Alexis's in Wonderland
by ucsbdad
Summary: Chapter Twenty One. And so with the last Alexis, this story is COMPLETE.
1. Chapter 1

Alexis's In Wonderland

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: If you own Castle, I don't. Rating: M, in parts. Time: Not too long after the events in Four of a Kind.

 **Author's note: This is a sequel to Four of a Kind, exploring the alternate universes found in The Time of Our Lives.**

 **Chapter One. Follow the Yellow Brick Road.**

"I'll get it." Rick called to his wife when he heard the knock on the door. Opening the door, he found a familiar face staring back at him.

"Meredith, what are you…" He felt himself go numb and as he hit the floor he thought. _Damn! It's the other damned Meredith. Or another one._

He heard two more thumps and bodies fell to the floor and then an unfamiliar face was looking down at him.

"Sorry for the intrusion, Mr. Castle. We wouldn't do this if it wasn't absolutely necessary."

 _Like hell._ He thought. Then everything went black.

This time when he woke up, he didn't feel like he had been ripped apart and reassembled by a demented three year old like he had the last time. He did feel woozy as he stood up. When he did, he shot to the ceiling, which fortunately was padded. He fell slowly to the floor.

"What the hell?" He muttered.

"Babe? Where are you?"

Rick walked slowly to where Kate was lying face down on a large couch. "You're Kate Beckett? Captain Beckett? My wife? Not someone else?"

"Yes. What happened?" Kate sat up and rose about two feet off of the couch. "What the hell?"

"Yes, what the hell." Said another voice.

"Simone?" Rick asked, turning around.

A woman who looked enough like Kate to be her sister, but wasn't, sat up slowly. "Where are we?"

Rick looked around him. They were in a large room, bigger than the first floor of his loft, well furnished with carpets over a hardwood floor, three large comfortable looking couches, and a small coffee table with a carafe of water, glasses, and cookies.

Rick pushed himself up off the couch with one hand and held himself there.

"You have been working out." Kate said.

"No, we're on the Moon."

"We're where?" Both women said at once.

"The Moon. I weigh about a sixth of what I'd weigh on Earth. So, my guess is that we're on the Moon."

"But we can't…" Kate began.

"When I opened the door it was Meredith. Not my ex-wife Meredith, but the one from another, alternate Earth."

"Crap." Kate said forcefully.

"I'm thirsty." Simone said. "Do you think the water's safe to drink?"

Rick shrugged. "We'll probably have to eat or drink something sooner or later." He reached over and got the water carafe and a glass. "I'll try it." He sipped the water. "Tastes like normal water." He grabbed a cookie and took a bite. "An Oreo. Tastes all right, too."

The two women looked at each other, shrugged, then ate and drank. As they did so, Rick got up and looked carefully around the room. There was no other furniture and only one door, which was locked.

"Okay. We're here and here is the Moon, but what's next is anyone's guess."

"Ah! Mr. and Mrs. Castle and Ms. Renoir. You're awake." A voice came from nowhere they could discern. "Please join us." The door opened silently. "Please just go down the passageway."

Rick walked over and looked out the door. There was a long hallway that curved off to the right. Rick looked down at the floor and laughed.

"Something funny, lover?"

He nodded. "The floor is yellow bricks. They want us to follow the yellow brick road." Rick took Kate's hand, then Simone's and they walked down the hallway, with Rick humming, _We're Off to See the Wizard._

Shortly after they went around the curve, there was another door. As they approached it, the door opened. They stopped just in front of the door. Rick shrugged. "We may as well."

The new room was about the size of the room that they had just left and was decorated in much the same manner. The exceptions were a large desk at the far end of the room and a window. In spite of himself, Rick was impressed by what was outside the window. Outside was the stark black and white of the Moon. Just above the rim of a distant crater wall he could see a full Earth. _I'm on the Moon. This is so cool._ He thought. _No. Not so cool. I don't want Kate or Simone involved in this. Whatever this is._

His attention went to the desk and the man sitting behind it. Castle knew the man. He was the skinny, older man who had been at their trial on an alternate Earth. He was dressed in a light grey suit with a white shirt open at the neck. His white hair seemed to be sparser than when they had last met. He was studying something on his desk. Rick remembered him as having been friendly, not that that really meant anything.

The man looked up from the desktop and smiled. "Mr. and Mrs. Castle, and Ms. Renoir. How good to see you again. Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Arthur Metford. Please, please sit down."

They remained standing. Rick frowned. "How about sending us back where we belong and cut the fake buddy-buddy crap."

"Because it's not fake, Mr. Castle. I really am pleased to see you." He did grin. "Although I do understand that you may be less than pleased to see me."

"Where's Meredith? This universe's Meredith, I mean." Rick demanded.

"Not here. She really is a busy young woman. I'm very much afraid she doesn't have time for this."

"She's not the only one who doesn't have time for this." Rick shot back.

They heard a musical chime and Metford looked at the door. "Perhaps things will be clearer when you meet our other guests."

The door opened soundlessly and a man and a woman entered. It took Rick a second before he recognized the couple. His hand shot out to take Kate's. He felt Simone take his other hand. "Crap." Kate and Rick said together. Simone added a heartfelt " _Merde_."

They were seeing another Rick and Kate. Rick looked at the other him. The first thing he noticed was that the other him was dressed in jungle cammies with web gear on, but was missing any weapons or ammunition. It had taken a second for Rick to recognize him because he had a beard and long, scraggly hair down over his ears and his collar. He was also a lot skinnier than Rick. He could also see cuts, bruises and sores on the man. His cammies were dirty and torn. The man himself looked exhausted.

Turning to the other Kate, she was dressed in what must have been a prison issue, bright orange jump suit. Her hair was darker than the way Kate wore hers was and much shorter. The biggest change was that this Kate had a black patch over her left eye. She had a bruise on her cheek and glared at Castle.

"I've explained to our two newcomers where we are." Metford said cheerfully. "Perhaps I should begin by introducing everyone?" It was obviously a rhetorical question as he began talking at once.

"The gentleman between the two ladies is Richard Castle. Mr. Castle is a successful and very wealthy novelist. Some years ago he began following the lady to his right. She's Captain Kate Beckett, NYPD, on whom he based the character of Detective Nikki Heat in a series of books. She is also Mr. Castle's wife."

That got a reaction from the other Kate. "You married that asshole? You must really be desperate, lady."

Kate moved closer to Rick, putting her arm around him. "I'm happy, not desperate. Happier than I've ever been."

The other Kate spat.

"Ladies, please? If I may continue?"Metford cut in. " The other young lady is now known as Simone Renoir, but was born Kathleen Beckett on a more backward alternate Earth, but her DNA is identical to Kate Beckett's. Identical to all other Kate Becketts. She was brought back to Mr. and Mrs. Castle's version of Earth where she had some plastic surgery so that she didn't look like Captain Beckett's twin. And in spite of coming from a world where the steamboat was the technological marvel of the age, she's fit in very nicely in in a more modern society. It was not our plan to have her come here, but she was present when we went to…pick up the Castles."

"Nice way to describe kidnapping." Kate said coldly.

Metford shrugged. "The military gentleman is Richard Rodgers, Staff Sergeant, US Army, Retired. Mr. Rodgers was once known as Richard Castle. Then one day he went to see his publishers and asked his mother, daughter and wife to meet him for brunch at the Windows on the World restaurant at the top of the North Tower of the World Trade Center. The date was September 11, 2001."

Rodgers nodded. "All that was ever found of them was a little piece of bone and flesh that they said was my little Alexis. They never found anything else."

Metford went on. "Mr. Rodgers was in a state of shock for a few months, but then found that he could enlist in the US Army. He went through infantry training, made in through airborne school, but not through Ranger School. However, he did find himself in Afghanistan shortly thereafter. He soon developed a reputation as…being crazy. He volunteered for anything as long as it was dangerous and would get him into combat with Muslims. He did eventually make it into the Ranger Regiment and served multiple tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. But the wars ended."

"Not really." Rodgers broke in. "The wars went on, hell, they multiplied, but they didn't involve US ground troops, just Special Forces trainers and air power, drones."

"Mr. Rodgers tried to get into the Special Forces, but they felt that a man with a well known hatred for Muslims was not the person to train the Muslim soldiers which would be a large part of the Special Forces mission." Metford went on.

Rodgers nodded. "I couldn't handle the peacetime Army. I had no legitimate way to work off my anger, so I found other ways. I got into trouble, and to make a long story short, the Army decided I had severe PTSD and retired me."

"And you're wearing cammies because?" Castle asked.

"I had a buddy in the CIA. He got me a job with East African Air Services, a company based out of London. We provided technical support services for African Union troops fighting in Somalia. I was checking on some of my door gunners when a PRG shot down the Mi-17 helicopter we were in. I got chased through the bush for two days. I finally got trapped by Al-Shabab, and then I found myself here."

Metford spoke again. "The other lady is also Kathleen Houghton Beckett. She's not a detective anymore, but a Federal prisoner. She also met a Richard Castle."

"A first class asshole." The other Kate volunteered. "He started shadowing me to write a book. Nikki Heat. No one can tell me that's a cop name. But, he did help me find the man who killed my mom, a professional named Dick Coonan. Castle asked me to go to the Hamptons with him for Memorial Day. I dumped my boyfriend and went with him. I really fell hard for him. And after six months he dumped me. The man thinks with his dick, and he broke my heart. He's had a dozens of bimbos in his bed since he dumped me. I kept looking for the man who ordered my mom's murder and found evidence it was Senator William Bracken. I actually thought that Castle might want to help me bring him down. He said it was too dangerous… for him." She glanced over at Kate. "I hope your life never depends on your husband doing something brave."

"How about him standing next to a bomb I was standing on, trying to disarm it and managing it with only seconds to spare? I could go on, but I doubt you'd be interested."

The other Kate just shrugged. "Bracken had me set up for a murder I didn't commit, so all I could do was take a run at him. I got into a speech he was making using my shield. I put two rounds into his gut. One of his goons grabbed my gun hand trying to get my piece away. Broke my wrist doing it. I got out my backup and shot Bracken in the forehead. We were both on the ground and he looked at me just as I pulled the trigger. He died knowing who'd killed him and why."

"And you couldn't prove how dirty he was?" Kate asked.

"Saint William Bracken?" She said sarcastically. "No one, not even my defense attorney, bought that." Then she smiled. "Oh, I did get a souvenir from one of his thugs." She pulled of her eye patch to show a gaping hole where her left eye should have been. "He shot me as I lay on the floor, disarmed. Too much damage to the bone to put in a prosthetic eye. That's what they tell me, anyway. Personally, I think the government just doesn't give a shit about me. A cop did stop the thug from putting another round in my brain. Lucky me."

"How'd you end up here?" Castle asked.

Metford took up the story. "Ms. Beckett was sent to the Federal Correctional Institute at Danbury, Connecticut. She was not popular there."

That got another sarcastic laugh from the other Kate. "Cons hate ex-cops to begin with, but the leader of the biggest, toughest gang in that prison was a redneck biker chick who called herself Miz Lil. She was all hot for Bracken. Her brother had gotten into some kind of a job training program that Bracken set up and made himself into the biggest Harley-Davidson dealer in New England. I got beaten up a couple of times because of her. That taught both me and Lil that the guards really didn't give a shit what happened to me. So Lil decided to have me shanked. Four cons dragged me off behind a refrigerator and were about to cut my throat while the guards looked the other way. Then, all of a sudden, I was here."

Metford nodded and smiled. "You'll be happy to know that the authorities are certain that those four inmates and the guards were part of a massive plot to help you escape. After all, how else could you have simply disappeared? You've caused quite a panic back home."

She smiled. "I hope Lil shanks those bitches herself. And the guards."

"Okay." Castle spoke up. "So we all know each other's life stories, and by the way, I like long walks on the beach and people with a sense of humor. How about telling us why the hell you brought us here?"

"I was coming to that, Mr. Castle." Metford chided him gently. "Perhaps I should begin at the beginning?"

This time Castle rolled his eyes. "That's such a cliché. Why not start at the middle and work towards both ends?" He said sarcastically.

Metford cleared his throat. "There are many, many alternate universes. Perhaps the number is infinite. We don't know. We do know how to travel from one universe to another, though, and to the best of our knowledge, we are the only ones who have that secret. We have discovered thousands of alternate Earths in the last forty or so years. In some, earth is a barren, airless ball of rock. In others, intelligent life of any sort has never arisen, and on many more, there are humans. We have yet to discover any sentient non-humans. There are a hundred or so planets that have levels of technology comparable to that of your home Earths. Some might have, say, more advanced computers than your Earth. Some might have more advanced spacecraft, or more advanced medical technology. And we have people on each of these technologically advanced Earths to keep track of that technology. When one Earth makes a breakthrough in, let us say, nanotechnology, we obtain that technology for ourselves. Drawing on the finest minds of over a hundred Earths, we are the most advanced society among all of the Earths. And we wish to keep it that way."

"Yeah, kind of like vampires, living off of other people." Castle broke in.

Metford sighed. "Unlike the mythical vampires, Mr. Castle, not one gets hurt by us. Should we take your books, print and sell them here, you wouldn't be out any money you might have made. Your Earth doesn't have the technology to get your books to us to sell them anyway. If we take something from your NASA, who's hurt?"

"It's just that someday you might want to be able to do something besides take from other people." Castle snapped at him. "What happens if you do run into someone who can travel between the worlds?"

"Yeah." One eyed Kate said. "How come Castle and his women got involved in this?"

"Castle and his wife. I have one wife and a friend of both of us."

"Sure, sport. Tell me another one." The other Kate said with a sneer. "I know you. You're banging both of them."

Metford ignored her. "Mr. Castle came into contact with an incredibly ancient device, which we believe was brought to the Earths by an extraterrestrial race. It can open several types of portals between the alternate universes. Mr. Castle managed to transfer his mind into the mind of another writer Richard Castle who had never met Detective Beckett and who had failed as a writer after killing off Derrick Storm."

One eyed Kate smiled. "Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy."

Mr. Metford glared at her. "But, somehow, Mr. Castle set off some sort of a chain reaction with the device. It brought two other Kate Becketts to his Earth. Two extra identical Kate Becketts would have seriously blown our cover, so to speak. We had to pull the Mr. and Mrs. Castle and the other two Becketts off that world and onto ours. Then our politics got in the way."

"How?" Rodgers asked,

"That's not important."

"What he means is he isn't going to tell you. That would betray their big secret." Rick said.

"Precisely, Mr. Castle." Metford said with a smile.

"The Castles and the Becketts were sent to a world that we didn't keep a team on where we thought they would be safe."

"Which we weren't." Kate said. "We got sent to a nice open air shooting gallery posing as a planet Earth. Apparently no one thought to check what kind of a place they were sending us to."

"But they met me and brought me to their world. It's fascinating." Simone added. "And now I have two of the best friends ever, Rick and Kate."

"Jesus. You make me want to puke." The other Kate said.

A green light lit up on Metford's desk. "My, my. It seems I'm needed elsewhere for a time. Perhaps we can reconvene tomorrow morning? I'm sure you're all hungry and thirsty and Mr. Rodgers looks like he could use a good night's sleep." Metford tapped the desk and another door opened in the wall. "You'll find food and drink in the common area and sleeping quarters for you all in the rooms off the common area. Good night all."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 Alexis's in Wonderland

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: My wife has told me that I don't own Castle. I believe her. Rating: M, in parts. Time: Shortly after the events in Four of a Kind.

 **Chapter Two: A Full House.**

Metford left through another door. Rick and Rodgers went to the other opened door and looked inside. It was a small kitchen. They could see a glass fronted refrigerator with ready-made sandwiches and other less identifiable things and bottles of some sort. Other foods were out on shelves. The only furnishings were a round table and six chairs. There were six doors ranged around the room. The three women were right behind them, with one eyed Kate hanging back.

"May as well." Rick said. He walked inside, followed by the others. He found a Philly cheese steak sandwich and heated it in a microwave, and grabbed a container of potato salad. He found that the drinks were all non-alcoholic.

"They do have coffee." Kate said with a smile.

The other Kate went to the table, grabbed a chair and went to the far end of the room, where she sat facing away from everyone else.

Rick, Kate, Simone and Rodgers sat at the table.

"She's going to be a problem." Rodgers said, nodding towards the other Kate. "Whatever we're here for, we need to work as a team. That's not happening with her."

Rick looked around the table, swallowed what he was chewing and got up to talk to the other Kate.

"Kate. Neither one of us is the Rick Castle who you knew. Rodgers never met a Kate Beckett and I'm married to my Kate and I always will be. We need to work together for…whatever it is we're here for. Why don't you join us at the table?"

She made no response for the longest time. Rick almost walked away. Finally, "I don't know who you are and I don't care. All I know is that when I look at either of you two, I feel like I want to puke. So just get the fuck out of my life, okay?"

"Kate…"He began.

"Fuck you." She said coldly.

Rick walked back to the table, shaking his head. "She doesn't like either of us, Rodgers."

"Too bad. One pair and three of a kind. Would've made a good hand."

"A full house?" Rick smiled.

"We'll manage." Kate said.

"I figure since they dragged me here, a soldier, and two cops, they need something done that involves violence. You know about me. What about you, Beckett? What do you do exactly?"

"I was a homicide cop, now I'm a captain and I run a precinct. My husband has been my partner officially and unofficially for eight years now."

"You?" Rodgers looked at Simone.

"I own a restaurant in Nawlins. Before that I worked in a saloon on another Earth. I've can handle myself in a gunfight. They'll tell you." She looked at Rick and Kate who nodded.

"You ever kill anyone, Beckett?"

Kate nodded.

"How did you feel about it?"

"I was too busy at the time to feel anything, but later…I didn't like it at all."

Rick nodded. "Same for me."

"And me." Simone added.

Rodgers smiled. "Good enough."

"Good enough for what?" Rick asked.

Rodgers looked at them seriously. "From my experience, people feel three ways about killing. Some feel bad about it, and that's okay, because killing is a serious business. But, it can make you not kill when you should and get yourself or someone else killed. That's what you three are like. Me, I enjoy killing, at least if it's people I can connect to my family's deaths. That's bad because you take too many chances so you can keep killing, and get yourself or someone else killed. The best are the people who don't feel any emotions one way or another. Killing has no more emotional content for them than eating breakfast or scratching their ass." He looked across at where one eyed Kate sat. "I do wonder about her. She's killed, we know that. And I'll bet she damned well loved that one kill, Bracken. But any others…?"

Everyone's eyes followed Rodger's and looked over at the other Kate. She have no sign of having heard them.

"We'll find out more tomorrow." Simone said. "For now, I'm for bed."

Rodgers nodded. "Yeah. I could sleep for a week."

Rick and Kate walked through one door and found themselves in a bedroom. An open door in the back showed that they had a bathroom. "A shower before we go to bed?" Rick said, wiggling his eyebrows.

"You took the words right out of my mouth."

A quick shower followed by a long, slow toweling off, found them sprawled on the bed. As Rick ran his hands over Kate's boobs, she spoke.

"You love us all, don't you?"

He stopped and looked in her eyes. "What? Love who?"

"All Kate Becketts. All of us."

Rick shook his head. "I love you. My wife. I love Kathleen Houghton Beckett Castle."

Kate shook her head gently. "And you love the rest of us. You want badly to take poor, broken, one eyed Kate Beckett and take away all of the pain in her life and give her joy, don't you? Just like you did with me? And Kathleen?"

He nodded. "If helping other people in pain, especially other yous, is love, then I do love them."

She kissed him gently, "Which is one more reason that I love you. You can fix all of the broken Kate Becketts in all of the universes, but you only get to make love to one. Okay?"

Castle blushed remembering the time he had made love to mystery writer Kate Beckett in the presence of his wife. "Absolutely. I'm a one muse writer and a one woman husband."

"Just remember that."

Castle began nibbling on her nipples and ran his hand down her flat stomach and began stroking the inside of her thighs. She spread her legs to give him better access.

"Lover, now. I'm ready. I'm wet and ready for you."

Castle rolled onto his back and pulled Kate over on top of him. She got on her knees and straddled him. He reached up to stroke her boobs while she reached down to take his erection in her hand. She raised herself up slightly and he slid inside her.

"I need this so badly." She breathed.

"God! Kate, you're fantastic. So fucking wet and tight. I love you. I've always loved you."

She smiled down at him and began moving slowly up and down on him, gradually increasing the speed. She began to moan.

"I'd just as soon not let everyone hear us." He whispered and pulled her down so that he could close her mouth with his own. He could hear her moan into his mouth and he could also hear the slap of her flesh against his. He was ready and he knew she was, too. She ground herself down on him just as he felt himself come inside of her as her orgasm crashed over her. She moaned softly and collapsed on top of him.

"God, but I love you." He whispered.

"And I love you."

"I'd love to do this again and again, but we need to get some sleep."

She stuck her tongue out at him. "Spoil sport."

"We have no idea why we're here, but I'm sure it's not going to be for a fun time on the Moon. We need to be ready."

They went to sleep wrapped in each other's arms.

Kate woke the next morning to the smell of freshly brewed coffee. "Rick?" Reaching out, she found her husband next to her.

"Hmm?" He mumbled.

"Someone's made coffee. We need to get up." Kate jumped out of bed and headed for the bathroom. Rick busied himself picking their clothing up off of the floor.

Overnight the kitchen had been restocked for breakfast. There were scrambled eggs, sausages, bacon, and hash brown potatoes as well as hot and cold cereals. Rodgers was already working on a large plate of food while Simone was browning waffles in an oversized toaster. The other Kate was nowhere to be seen.

When Rick and Kate came out and began loading their plates, Simone came over to them. "The partitions here are really thin." She told them in a whisper.

"Sorry." Rick said. "I hope we didn't keep you up too late."

Simone shook her head. "That's not what I heard that interested me. I'm right next to the other Kate. She was crying for a good hour last night before she finally got to sleep. Or at least I think she got to sleep."

Kate leaned in and kissed Rick. "It looks like broken Kate Beckett may be fixable after all." She said in his ear, softly.

"I hate to think of her crying herself to sleep." He whispered back. "She needs help, Kate."

"I know. I want to help her, too."

"Just be sure she wasn't crying because she didn't get a chance to kill both of the Castles who are here." Simone said.

Just then, the other Kate came out of her room, grabbed a plate of food and pulled a chair away from the table and ate facing the wall.

"Helping her may not be that easy."

"If anyone can, you can, Rick."

They ate in silence, but Rick noticed that Rodgers kept his eye on the other Kate. To Rick, it didn't look like Rodgers liked her much.

"Good morning all." Metford's voice surprised them all. "I've opened the door, so please come in so I can continue our briefing."

"I'd appreciate a brief briefing." Rick muttered. "Something like, "Sorry, we made a mistake. You can go home.", followed by the opportunity to punch Metford in the nose."

Metford was sitting behind his desk with a smile on his face. He now wore a dark blue polo shirt and tan slacks instead of his suit. "Did you sleep well?"

They all looked at him. Only one eyed Kate answered. "Fuck you."

Metford smiled at that. "I suppose I can continue my briefing. As I've told you before, we consider it paramount that we, and we alone, know the secret of travelling between alternate Earths. There are other Earths that have some theoretical knowledge of the possibility of other realities, but this is really all speculation at this point. However, there is one Earth that is much closer to proving the existence of alternate realities, although that still puts them a long way from being able to travel between realities."

"And we care about this because?" Rodgers said, clearly bored.

"Let us call our Earth, Earth Number One. The world where a lone genius is developing the mathematical proofs of other Earths is Earth Number Two."

"What number are our Earths?" Kate asked.

"Not really important." Metford replied.

"Like hell." Simone muttered.

"What is important is the person who is developing those proofs on Earth Two." Metford tapped his desk and a hologram appeared beside his desk.

"That's me." Both Rick and Rodgers said.

"That's a Richard Rodgers, but he is not either of you."

"Okay, but…"Rodgers began.

"There is an Earth Number Three. They have no Mr. Rodgers to prove the existence of other Earths. What they do have is the ancient extraterrestrial machine like the one that our Rick Castle used to begin this whole fiasco. When Mr. Castle used the one in his universe, their machine became active. The people on Earth Three have been able to move to a number of other Earths. Fortunately, they aren't able to use the machine to its full extent. But, worse luck, they have gotten people, just a few, to Earth Two and have discovered Mr. Rodgers and his work. With Rodgers' math and the machine, they could learn to travel between Earths in a few years. And, even worse, they know of our existence."

"I'm truly heartbroken that your little monopoly is broken." Rick said sarcastically. "Can we leave now?"

"Oh, we aren't done with the briefing, Mr. Castle. You might be interested to know who runs the economically, politically and militarily most powerful country on Earth Three." Metford tapped his desk again. Another hologram appeared.

The other Kate shot to her feet and screamed at the image. "No! I killed you, you motherfucker! You're dead! You're dead."

Rick was right after her. He put his arms around her and gently brought her back to the couch where his Kate and Simone were sitting. She was sobbing by the time he sat her down. He put an arm around her and Kate took one of her hands. The other Kate mumbled. "He's dead. He has to be dead. I killed him. I can't have gone through all of this for nothing."

"This is a different Bracken, Kate. Maybe he didn't kill your mother in his world. Maybe he had Pulgatti shanked or something."

"I'm afraid you're wrong, Mr. Castle." Metford broke in. "This Bracken did have his Earth's Johanna Beckett murdered."

"Crap." Castle muttered, glaring at Metford.

"And look carefully at who and what he is." The hologram was some sort of a news broadcast. Castle could read what was below the picture. "President Bracken attends the opening of the new Manhattan Job Center."

"President Bracken was elected in 2008."

"That means he's out of office in 2016." Kate said.

"I'm afraid not, Mrs. Castle. President Bracken has a thoroughly tame Congress and Supreme Court. He'll be the President, or at least in charge, for the rest of his life."

The other Kate had stopped crying and was staring at the image. "I'll kill him."

"No, you won't, Ms. Beckett. To begin with, we won't let you. And killing a Senator is one thing. Killing a sitting President with the full force of the US Government against you…You'd never have a chance. This isn't the US Government you know. It's one that President Bracken has been building for some seven years. It's a police state." Metford smiled. "But you can put a very large dent in his plans."

The other Kate just glared at Metford.

"Okay, so Bracken is the President…somewhere. So?" Rick asked.

"We can offer assistance to all of you. Our escaped prisoner needs help. Ms. Beckett, we can regrow the bone around your eye that was shot away. We can also begin a cloning of your good eye and implant it where your other eye used to be. We can repair your scarring and make you as good as new. Better, in fact. And we can resettle you on an Earth not dissimilar to your own and provide you with enough funds to live comfortably for the rest of your life. And it'll be an Earth with no William Bracken, no Richard Castle or Rodgers, and no other Kate Beckett."

"I'd rather kill him, but it's the only game in town, I suppose." One eyed Kate said dully.

Metford turned to Rodgers. "You do have severe PTSD, Mister Rodgers. Oddly enough your continuing military career has kept some of the symptoms at bay. Hypervigilance, for instance, is a useful trait to have in combat. And the people you deal with on a daily basis understand your problems. However, without treatment your PTSD will only worsen. Eventually, you'll be…incapable of anything. We have psychiatric treatments unknown on your Earth. We can cure you. Then we can send you to an Earth with no radical Islam where you can live in peace with enough money to live happily and comfortably." Metford smiled. "Or, if you prefer, we can send you to an Earth where you can fight jihadists to your heart's content."

Rodgers nodded. "Better than being in the Somali bush surrounded by al-Shabab. Why not?"

Metford turned to Castle, but Castle spoke first. "I don't need a new face or a new mind or a lot of money. You haven't got anything to offer me, or my wife and my friend.'

Metford chuckled. "Don't we?" He hit something on his desk. Another hologram appeared.

It was Alexis. She was dirty, and had a black eye and a bloody nose and she was obviously terrified. "Dad! Please help. I don't understand this. Just do what they want. They say they'll kill me if you don't." The hologram ended.

Castle shot to his feet. "Alexis is in trouble? I have to get back to her, damn you."

Metford shook his head. "That's not your Alexis, Mr. Castle. She's Alexis Rodgers, the daughter of the Richard Rodgers, the mathematical genius of Earth Two. And there's more."

"What more?" Rick demanded.

"I told you that Bracken's people know about us. Two of our people were captured and tortured. They told Bracken's people a lot about us. Not how we travel between the worlds. They didn't have that information. However they did tell them that we can track the movement of people from Earth to Earth by their DNA."

"So you know where she is. What do you need us for?"

"Bracken's people have grabbed a number of Alexis Castles or Rodgers' from various Earths, moved them around and scattered them over multiple Earths. We can tell that an Alexis is on a particular Earth, but the only way to tell it it's the right Alexis is to find her and rescue her."

"In that case, I need to go home to take care of my Alexis. She could be in danger." Castle snapped.

"I think your father is more capable of that than you are." Metford said quietly.

"My father?"

"He's more senior in the CIA's Special Activities Division than you might imagine. We found a William A. Bracken who hasn't been as successful as the one you know. In exchange for some money to buy alcohol, he wrote a letter detailing a very well-funded plot to grab your Alexis and force you and Captain Beckett to "confess" that you framed him. The letter is in Bracken's handwriting and has his fingerprints and DNA all over it. The letter was allowed to get to the authorities and your father was also informed. He used his position to protect Alexis. This plot, by the way, is the explanation for your absence."

"Yeah, but I'd feel better if…"

"The CIA has a compound at the headquarters of the US Army Special Operations Command. Alexis is there, guarded by both CIA and military personnel. And we've added a layer of protection. If Earth Three's Bracken's people try to drop into the CIA compound and grab Alexis, they'll find they can't get within a mile or so of that part of your Earth. They'll have to attack from off Fort Bragg. Considering how many soldiers are there, it would be suicidal."

Metford smiled coldly. "So, Mr. Castle, are you prepared to let a number of Alexis's suffer and perhaps die? Or will you help?"

Castle shook his head. "I'm in."

"We're in." Kate added, taking Rick's hand.

"Me, too." Simone added.

"I thought so." Metford said.


	3. Chapter 3

Ch. 3 Alexis's in Wonderland

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: You may have noticed that I don't own Castle. Rating: M, in parts. Time: Shortly after Four of a Kind. Maybe in season eight. Maybe later.

 **Chapter 3. Off we go….**

Something chimed on Metford's desk. "Ah! I see have other business to take care of. It will probably be tomorrow before we can try to send you after an Alexis."

"You don't seem to be in such a big rush all of a sudden." Castle snapped at him.

"Mr. Castle," Metford said with an infuriatingly superior smile. "I could bring one of our experts in and explain to you what traveling between the Earths entails, but you wouldn't understand it." Metford then left.

"Do you think he's telling the truth?" The other Kate asked.

"About needing us?" Castle asked. "I'm sure they do. They wouldn't go to all this trouble otherwise. About the other Rick Rodgers number three, and President for Life Bracken, yeah, probably. Whether they can fix you two, I don't know. But they can set up a base on the Moon which our Earth can't do. Can either of your Earths do that?"

Both the other Kate and Rodgers shook their heads.

"So, their science is pretty advanced. They do steal the technology from over a hundred Earths, so maybe they can do what they promised."

"But you don't know." Rodgers asked. "Do you trust them?"

Rick shrugged. "Do we have a choice? They could drop you back in Somalia and the other Kate in her prison jump suit in front of a police station. And they can dump the three of us back home. Who's going to believe Rick Castle, well known believer in the odd and the impossible, when he tells a tale of alternate Earths? Besides, it would bring too much attention to Simone. She's identical in fingerprints and DNA to Kate. That would prove something, but it could also get us sent to Area 51, or somewhere for the rest of our lives."

"So, we have no choice." Simone said softly.

"Rodgers, I meant to ask you something. When you said your wife was killed on 9/11, which one was it?"

Rodgers looked puzzled. "Which one? Meredith, of course. Who did you think?"

"I got served with divorce papers by Meredith after I found her in bed with a director. After her I married Gina Cowell."

Rodgers shook his head. "I always suspected Meredith wasn't one hundred per cent faithful to me, but I never had any proof. That's one of the things that bothered me. Meredith was dead and unable to defend herself and there I was wondering if she was with another man." He shook his head slowly. "And you married Gina Cowell? The blonde at Black Pawn?"

"Yeah. Big mistake as it turned out. She was a good publisher, but we never clicked as husband and wife."

"And now you're married to a cop?"

"The inspiration for Nikki Heat. My latest series of books."

"Nikki Heat?" The other Kate said, snarkily. "Sounds like a stripper, not a cop."

Kate laughed. "See? She is another me. It took me a long time to accept that Nikki Heat was a cop's name. What did your Castle call your character?"

"Alexander. Tatiana Alexander. She had been born in Russia and came to the US as an infant. Her mom married a guy named Alexander. "

"More and more, I don't like this guy. Tatiana Alexander? Really?" Rick said.

"One thing." Simone said. "We have two Ricks and two Kates. What should we call everyone?"

"You can call me Sarge or Rodgers. That's what everyone calls me anyway."

"Call me Becks then. That's what my friends called me. Back when I had friends, anyway."

"What happened?" Kate asked. "What about your friends?"

"All of my friends were cops. Javi Esposito, Kevin Ryan, Grant Sullivan, and the ME, Lanie Parish. But I was a rogue cop who'd gone off the deep end and shot a senator for no reason. They dropped me like that."

"Did you ever find the tape in our mom's elephants?"

Becks stared at Kate. "What tape?"

"There's a tape of Montgomery, Raglan and McCallister talking to Bracken when he was still an ADA. Bracken admitted to killing my mom, framing Pulgatti, and a lot of other stuff. That's how Rick and I were able to arrest him and get him sent to prison for the rest of his life. Do you still have those elephants?"

Becks shook her head. "I don't know. When I was convicted, I was fired from the NYPD. My personal stuff was boxed up. I have no idea what happened to it." She shook her head. "It wouldn't do any good now anyway. I'm a convicted murderer and an escaped prisoner. If I ever went back…."She stopped. "I'll never go back."

They discussed their lives and the Earths they had lived on. They found that there were very few differences between their Earths and those were all minor.

Castle checked his watch. "Lunch?"

No one disagreed and they headed for the kitchen. As Rick tried to decide between hoagie and burrito, he caught sight of Becks looking at her reflection in the glass of the refrigerator door. She ran one finger over her scarred face.

Castle grabbed the hoagie and went over to her. "You'll always be a beautiful woman to me, Becks. And I really think you'll get all fixed up."

She blushed. "I always thought that I'd always look….ugly."

Rick took her arm. "Come and sit with us. We're family now."

"Not really. We're…not clones. Not twins. I don't know what we are."

"Family." Rick said, guiding her to the table.

After lunch, Rodgers looked around the table. "Okay. We've got five people who can handle themselves in a tight spot, but if all we have to do is get several Alexis Castles or Rodgers's back, why don't they use their own people? They must have some people who can do this."

"I have an idea." Kate said. "According to Metford, Bracken's people can't send too many people into the other Earths. So, the five of us are probably enough. And Alexis Castle or Rodgers will be badly frightened. Seeing her dad, or two dads will calm her down. And some of the Alexis's may know a Kate Beckett. Hopefully that'll calm her or them down as well. If a bunch of strangers from this Earth showed up to rescue her, Alexis might run, or fight them."

"Makes sense." Rodgers admitted.

"Rick," Becks said, "can you tell me something about this Nikki Heat and the books you wrote? I admit I liked Tatiana Alexander until that…"She stopped and blushed. "Until the other Castle dumped me. After that I hated her and all his books. I'd love to read about Nikki. She's like Kate, right?"

"She's like Kate, but no matter how hard I try, Nikki Heat will never be as good as my wife is."

"Don't you believe him." Kate said. "Nikki is a lot better to her husband than I have been to Rick. Not that I've cheated on him or anything…it's….complicated. "

"But, since you asked, the first book is called _Heat Wave_. Nikki arrives at the murder scene. The deceased is a very wealthy developer and Nikki soon…." Rick began.

Rick kept Becks and Rodgers fascinated with the adventures of Nikki Heat and Jameson Rook. Even Kate and Simone were interested.

Metford's voice came out of nowhere. "I'd suggest you get a good night's sleep everyone. You'll be going out on an easy assignment tomorrow and perhaps a more difficult one after that."

"What kind of assignment?" Rodgers asked, but got no response. "Damn it. They're treating us alike a bunch of mushrooms."

"Mushrooms?" Rick and Kate said together.

Rodgers laughed. "You know how to grow mushrooms, don't you? You keep them in the dark and feed them on horseshit."

The others smiled at the joke, but no one was sure it was entirely a joke.

When Becks and Rodgers had headed off to their rooms, Rick pulled Kate and Simone to one side. "Kate, Simone, you don't have to do this. In fact, I don't want you to. I hate the idea of either of you risking your lives, and Alexis is my daughter…..

Kate put a finger over Rick's lips. "Do you remember what I told you after you went to Paris _alone_ to get Alexis back? That you were never to do anything like that without me again. I meant every word of it. And Alexis is my daughter, maybe not by blood, but I love her as I love you. So, just forget it. I'm going with you."

Simone nodded. "Me too. You taught me what a family was about. We're family, you, me, Kate, Alexis, and all the other Kates, Ricks and Alexis's there are. I'm going too."

"I just want…"

"No!" Kate and Simone said together.

Rick knew when he was beaten.

After Rick and Kate had made love, they lay in each other's arms. "I'm going to have to keep an eye on you aren't I?" She said.

"No." Rick replied.

"Yes I am. A badly wounded, emotionally damaged Kate Beckett? You won't be able to stop trying to fix her. And who knows where that could lead?"

"It'll lead me to one place. To you. Yes, I want to fix poor broken Becks, just like I wanted to fix you. Like I wanted to fix Kathleen Beckett. And may I remind you that we have a broken Rick Rodgers with us? Will I have to watch you?"

"Yes, but I have a proven track record of pushing Ricks away. I've done it for years." Kate looked away from him. "I'm sorry. There's nothing I regret more than all the time I spent trying to convince myself that I didn't love you."

Rick kissed her and stroked her cheek. "We ended up in the right place. Although somehow I never thought that we'd end up in a bed on the Moon in an alternate universe."

Kate raised an eyebrow. "You didn't? You're slipping, Mr. Castle."

Rick sat up in bed. "Hey! Do you hear that?"

"What?"

"The sound of Becks not crying. Maybe it's working."

They woke the next morning to find that new clothing was awaiting them. Rick had grey slacks, a light blue shirt and a dark blue jacket. Kate had a nice skirt and jacket combination, in muted greys, with a frilly white blouse, but with her trademark four inch heels.

Castle checked his wallet. "About two hundred bucks. The money looks the same. The driver's license says I'm Richard Castle, address in Los Angeles. Credit cards and everything looks just like home."

"Congratulations, Mr. Castle. I'm apparently your wife. And, according to my business cards, I'm an event planner: Weddings, bar mitzvahs, birthdays, anniversaries, births, and promotions."

"Should we go see how everyone else fared?"

The first person they saw was Simone, dressed in a dark power suit, with her hair in a ponytail. She turned around like a model. "What do you think?"

"Very nice." Kate replied. "Who are you?"

She giggled. "Simone Renoir of New Orleans, of course, except I seem to manage a restaurant, not own one. How sad to have fallen so far." Simone gave an exaggerated sigh.

The next to come out was Rick Rodgers, dressed in ankle boots, tan cargo pants with a black tee shirt and a brown leather jacket. His beard had been slightly trimmed, but his hair was the same.

"Very nice." Kate said. "Who are you?"

He pulled out his wallet. "Dick Rodgers. I live in New York City and I'm an electrician. Which is lucky since I know a little bit about that."

It was several more minutes before Becks came out, which she did shyly, peering out of the door of her room before coming out. The biggest change was her hair, which was now a golden blonde. Makeup around her damaged eye had made the scars almost invisible, but not quite. A black patch covered her missing eye. She wore skinny jeans, a deep blue tee shirt and a fleece lined leather jacket. Her shoes were flats so she didn't look as tall as Kate or Simone.

"You're beautiful." Kate said.

"Almost." She replied.

"Your identification?" Rodgers asked.

She pulled out a wallet. "Kate Beckworth, New York City, paralegal. Makes sense, I do know about the law. And it'll make sense to call me Becks."

"The only question is, where are we going to?" Rick asked.

"A very good question, Mr. Castle." Metford's voice boomed. "Come into my office."

Metford was behind his desk, smiling when they came in and sat down. "Are you all ready for your first trip? You certainly look ready."

"We don't have any weapons." Rodgers said at once.

"You won't need any. We're sending you two Earth Number Two to see the mathematical genius Richard Rodgers."

"Why is he still there?" Castle asked. "Wouldn't it make more sense to bring him here to make sure he isn't grabbed by Bracken's thugs?"

"Alas, he won't leave his home. He wants to be there for his daughter, just in case. And, we'd like to avoid letting him see any more of the other Earths than we have to. We've provided round the clock security for him, and he's agreed to drop his researches into alternate universes if we can get his Alexis back."

"Not just his Alexis." Castle interrupted. "We need to get all of the Alexis's back."

Metford frowned. "We'll see what we can do, Mr. Castle."

"No, we'll get all of the Alexis's back."

"Of course." Metford said.

Castle didn't believe him for a second.

Something blinked on Metford's desk. "Ah! They're ready to send you to another Earth."

A worker in a dark blue, one piece suit led them into the hallway that led to the room they had initially been in. However, there was now another door that hadn't been there before. They walked through a series of corridors and came to a large room. On one side of the room were darkened floor to ceiling windows. Castle could just barely see people moving behind the glass. The only other thing they saw was a red square painted on the floor.

"Please stand completely within the red square." A voice said over a loudspeaker. "Someone will meet you on the other side."

They stood within the square. There was a flash of blue light and they were suddenly in what looked like a parking garage. In front of them was a cab.

"Mr. and Mrs. Castle? Ms. Renoir? Ms. Beckworth? Mr. Rodgers? Did you have a good trip?"

Castle opened the cab's door so that Kate, Simone, Becks and he could squeeze into the back, Rodgers sat in front.

They pulled out of the garage and into what looked exactly like New York City. Castle craned his neck around, trying to look everywhere at once.

"Looking for something, Mr. Castle?" The cabbie asked.

"I'm looking for something different. Maybe lots of brand new Studebaker cars, or dirigibles in the air. How about ads for the latest Beatles' album or Marilyn Monroe's latest film?"

The cabbie laughed. "This New York is a lot like about a hundred other New Yorks. The main difference is in medical technology. We don't get many visitors from other Earths, only a couple of dozen in all the years we've been at this. But, out of curiosity, I did look up some things that are different from your Earths. For one, William Shakespeare wrote two more plays than in your worlds."

"Can we stop at a good book store?" Castle asked.

"Sorry. That's not permitted. Oh, and Queen Marie Antoinette of France wasn't beheaded in the French Revolution. She made good her escape, but died in exile in England. The Napoleonic Wars went on pretty much as scheduled. Abraham Lincoln lived for about three days after being shot, but never regained consciousness. And if you're a baseball fan, the Cubs finally got back to the World Series in 1989. Lost in four games to Oakland."

"Glad I'm not a Cubs fan." Rodgers muttered.

"We're there." The cabbie announced, pulling up in front of a brownstone just off of Central Park. "You're expected."

"Apparently math pays well here." Kate said.

"Mr. Rodgers' mother married money." The cabbie said. "She died a couple of years ago."

They were let into the brownstone by a bulky butler who didn't even try to hide the pistol in a shoulder holster. They counted at least three other bodyguards, with protective vests and assault rifles. When they entered what must Rodger's office, he rose to greet them. He walked to them with the aid of two canes.

"I'm Richard Rodgers….And you are, too." He gave the two men a long look. "I really didn't quite believe it. But there are more of me out there. And women, too? Who are they?"

Kate, Simone and Becks introduced themselves and they explained who they were.

Rodgers shook his head. "A writer who married a policewoman, another cop, a soldier, and someone from a really alternate Earth. Thank you for going after my Lexi. I'd go with you, but…" He gestured to his canes.

"What happened?" Rick asked.

"I was a senior at Faircroft. Just before the prom, some friends and I decided to pull a little prank."

Castle nodded. "You put a cow on the roof of the school? I did that, too."

"The cow only went halfway up. She panicked and tried to go back down, then she rolled over on me, breaking the bannister and we both fell two stories. They tried to save my legs, but…" He lifted his pants leg. He had two prosthetic legs. "One above the knee amputation and one below the knee. It changed my life. But, at least I found my Meredith and we had Lexis."

"What happened to your wife?" Kate asked.

"Drunk driver. She died instantly, or so they told me. So you can see, my Lexi is all I have left. First Meredith, then my mom, I can't lose Lexi, I can't. I'll do whatever you want if you can get her back."

Both Castle and Rodgers nodded. "We'll get her back."

The cab ride back to the parking garage was somber. Castle took Kate's hand. "I'm awfully lucky. I have my health, my mom, my daughter and the best wife I could ever hope to have."

Kate leaned against his shoulder. "All things considered, I'm pretty lucky, too."

They noticed that Rodgers was looking straight ahead without speaking and Becks was crying quietly on Simone's shoulder.

"We need to bring some luck to them, too." Kate whispered.

Once again they found themselves standing on the red square on the Moon base. Metford was waiting for them. "Glad to see that you're back. Did everything go okay?"

Rodgers nodded. "We promised the other guy we'd get his daughter back for him."

"Splendid!" Metford cried. "We thought you'd like a brief look at the opposition. Tomorrow you'll go to Earth Number Three and see what President Bracken has done."


	4. Chapter 4

Ch. 4 Alexis's in Wonderland

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: If you own Castle, please raise your hand. Rating: M, sooner or later. Time: After Four of a Kind

 **Chapter four. Work! Fight! Obey!**

They got up the next day to find new clothing and new ID's waiting for them.

"Wide lapels, polyester suits and narrow ties?" Castle said. "Bracken has a lot to account for if he caused this. If I have to wear a pukka shell necklace, I'm not going."

Kate, dressed in a flowery print dress that went to her mid-calf, and a short suede jacket, was looking at their ID's. "According to this, were not married. I'm Katherine Hayes and you are Rick Lang. It seems you're a writer of romance novels and I'm your secretary. How Jameson Rook of you, Castle."

Castle frowned. "Romance novels? How could they do that to me?"

Kate put an arm around him and pressed up against him. "When we get back, you can rip my bodice if you'd like." She said in a low, sexy voice.

"I could start now." He ran his hand through her hair and began moving it downwards.

Kate stepped back. "No time, I'm afraid. We need to go."

They walked out to find Simone, Becks and Rodgers already there and dressed much like the Castles. Simone had kept her name, but Becks and Rodgers were now Mr. and Mrs. Rodgers, government employees.

After breakfast, another woman came to take them to the transfer point. Metford was waiting for them, along with two men dressed in hospital scrubs.

"I have something for you." Metford said, holding out his hand. In it were five tiny devices no larger than the head of a pin "They'll be inserted into your arms. If you get into any trouble on your next missions we can track you and pull you back here. When your mission is done, just tell us to recall you and you'll be back here."

"What if they get pulled out?" Simone asked.

"They won't be. Your arm will be pulled off of your body before these will come out of your arms."

"Is that what they're for?" Kate asked, pointing to the two in scrubs.

"That and something else your planet doesn't have." Metford said with a cheery smile. "We're about to inject a virus into you."

"I do not need the flu." Rodgers said, balling his fists.

"And you won't get the flu." Metford replied. "The virus will implant information in your brain. It'll give you memories of the Earth you're going to without having to learn them the old fashioned way. Once back, you'll be given another injection to remove the unnecessary information." He turned to the two in scrubs. "Inject them, please."

None of them liked the idea, but they went along with it. Soon, they were standing on the red square, and after a flash of blue light, they were in another parking garage. They walked out into another New York City, but a more different New York.

Immediately across from them when they reached the street, they saw a monstrous Jumbotron screen. The screen was white and then a single word appeared, growing larger and larger until the red letters took up the whole screen: WORK! After a second the screen was filled with clips of assembly lines, combines harvesting wheat, construction workers, miners, office workers, and finally the word WORK again.

"Happy workers, relentlessly over-fulfilling their production quotas." Castle muttered.

Then a word in white: FIGHT! The screen was filled with a formation of fighter aircraft, then soldiers parachuting, ships at sea firing missiles, and jerky footage of what looked like actual combat in a city somewhere. Then the word FIGHT again.

Lastly, the screen was filled with one more giant word in blue: OBEY. The video clips were masses of soldiers marching, cheering crowds at some sort of outdoor stadium, more cheering crowds lining a street and then a photo of a smiling Bracken, surrounded by a cross section of society, all looking at him in awe. People of every race, color and creed, people with hardhats, those in hospital scrubs, young, old, all ready, willing and able to obey President Bracken. Finally, there was a close up of a serious Bracken with the words, Our President, under his face.

"That looks like something North Korea would do." Rodgers said.

"I think someone has seen _Triumph of the Will_. " Castle added.

Kate took his arm and pulled him along. "Come on. The office we're supposed to go to is just down the block."

They hadn't covered half the distance when a young woman in a blue skirt, a red jacket and a white blouse and a large button with Bracken's face on it stopped them. "Excuse me, citizens," She began with a cold smile, "but I don't see your buttons. I hope you support our president. I do hope you're not dissidents?" She said the last word as if it left a bad taste in her mouth.

Rick's virus memories came to his rescue. "Of course not, citizen. My secretary and I were inside and we had our coats off. We neglected to move our pins from our shirts to our jackets when we went outside." Both Rick and Kate pulled a Bracken button from their shirts and put them on their jackets.

The young woman beamed at them. "Excellent, citizens." She turned to Simone who had already put her button on, and then to Rodgers and Becks.

Rodgers just glared at her, then pulled out his wallet and showed her a plastic laminated card. "Neither I nor my wife need a button to show our dedication to this country." He said coldly.

The woman actually took a step backwards. "Your suffering for our nation is appreciated, citizens." She nodded to all five of them. "God bless the United States of America and President Bracken."

The five repeated the line with as much false enthusiasm as they could manage. Apparently it was sufficient.

"I'm a disabled veteran here, too." Rodgers said. "It can come in handy."

Another five minutes found them in a nondescript office building. A short ride in an elevator brought them to another nondescript office. A receptionist nodded to them. A door opened and they walked through. Inside was a hallway with one door at the end. As they walked to the door, a section of wall opened. "In here." Said a voice.

Inside was some sort of a security center. TV screens showed the building and the surrounding neighborhood from every possible angle. They could hear the muted sound of the city through mics. "The boss is right through the door." One man said, without looking up from his monitor.

Inside was a small, very pretty Asian American woman. "Hi. I'm Carolyn. Just first names here I'm afraid. So, how do you like President Bracken's version of America?"

"It sucks." Castle said. "But if he was elected in 2008, he'll be out of office in 2016, won't he? Presidents can only serve two four years terms, unless this Constitution is different."

Carolyn shook her head. "That part of the Constitution is the same, but Bracken's pulling a Putin."

"A what?" Becks asked.

"President Putin of Russia was limited to two terms as Russia's president. So, he changed the Russian constitution so that the Russian President was a powerless figurehead and the prime minister was in charge. So, in 2016 a powerless US President will be elected and Bracken will run the country as the Chief Secretary of the Cabinet."

"How does he get away with this?" Rick asked. "Is the US a police state?"

"Something like that. Bracken has money, lots of money. He's bought off a number of members of Congress, and backed challenges to those he can't buy. There are no concentration camps, or a secret police, well, not yet. Bracken would rather buy his opponents, or blackmail them, or keep them so busy with income tax audits they don't have time to fight him. And being at war helps."

"War?" Rodgers asked.

"With radical Islam. The military is bigger than at any time since World War Two. We're fighting in the Middle East, North Africa, East Africa and the Far East. Stand up to Bracken and you're giving aid and comfort to our enemies."

"Bracken wasn't so squeamish on our Earth." Kate said.

"Oh, he's hardly opposed to killing his foes, but only when he has to." Carolyn tapped a computer screen, and pictures of various people started scrolling by. "A reporter in New York who connected Bracken to the drug trade, an anti-war activist, a political blogger, an actor who supported one of Bracken's opponents, a congressman from Oregon….The list goes on. Once you start murdering your opponents, it starts getting easier and easier. We brought you here because they wanted you to see what we're fighting against."

"Kate, Becks and I already know. Simone never heard of Bracken. How about you, Rodgers?" Castle asked.

"I never paid much attention to politics, but I have heard of Bracken. Nothing about him being any kind of presidential front runner though."

"He had my mom killed." Becks said bitterly. "I killed him once but he's still alive here. I'd kill all of them if I could."

"Okay, he's a bastard. So why not do something about it?" Kate asked.

Carolyn smiled and shook her head. "Sure, why not try to make all of the hundred or so Earths we have regular contact with into better places? Or better yet, how about the hundreds of Earths that have other problems, like the one Simone is originally from. Maybe we could send an army to conquer all of those other Earths and force them to do things our way." Carolyn frowned. "How well has that worked on your Earths?"

Castle nodded. "Okay, I get it."

"Governments are easy to change, societies are much harder." Carolyn concluded. "That's a lesson that Bracken hasn't learned."

"Okay, we're convinced he's a bastard." Rick said. "Can we go home now?"

"You mean back to the Moon?" Carolyn smiled at him. He didn't smile back.

They headed back to the parking garage to go back without causing a sensation. They were almost back when a long haired young man sped past them, knocking Kate into Rick.

"Watch it, buddy!" Rick screamed at him.

Four armed men in khaki uniforms ran past them a second later, clearly in pursuit of the young man. The man turned to look behind him and ran straight into two more khaki clad men who threw him to the ground. He tried to get up only to be kicked viciously in the stomach.

"Damned dissident traitor!" Yelled the man who had kicked him.

The other men ran up and began to kick the man on the ground as well, all while screaming insults at him.

"The Constabulary." Kate whispered, using her virus gained knowledge. "Bracken's new uniformed Federal police."

"His bully boys, you mean." Rodgers said under his breath.

A crowd gathered around the man on the ground, now bloody and confused from the kicks. The crowd was calling him a traitor, a coward and liar, among other things. One young woman ran up and kicked him in the face. The crowd cheered her and one of the policemen high fived her.

"Let's get the hell out of here ASAP." Rodgers said, as they turned into the garage and disappeared,.

When they woke up the next morning back on the Moon, they had new clothing.

"Desert cammies?" Castle said, smiling as he watched Kate dress.

"And we each have a Glock. 9mm Glock 17s. And spare magazines."

They walked out of their bedroom to find the other three similarly dressed and armed. Metford came in and smiled at them. "Today you'll be going on your first mission to rescue an Alexis Castle. It should be an easy one, but I think you're quite well equipped for it."

"Bullshit." Rodgers snarled.

"I beg your pardon?" Metford said, surprised.

"If we're going somewhere that we need weapons, we should be properly equipped."

Metford bridled at what Rodgers said. "My people have insured me that what you have is sufficient."

"That's based on your Earth's extensive combat history, I suppose?" Rodgers made no effort to hide the sarcasm and disdain. "I'll tell you what we need, and you'll get it for us."

Several hours later they were outfitted with protective vests that Metford assured them were superior in every way to those available on their own Earths. Rodgers, Kate and Becks carried the C7 rifle, the Canadian built version of the US M 16A3 rifle, complete with both an optical and a laser sight. Rick and Simone carried Benelli 12 gauge shotguns. All still carried the Glock pistols as well as extra ammo, water and a medical kit.

Rodgers looked them over. "Now we're ready to go."

The walked to the transfer room and were again injected with a virus to give them background of the Earth they were headed for.

After a blue flash of light, they found themselves standing on a beach, in hot muggy weather. It was just about dawn.

"Okay. I'll go over what the virus gave us just to make sure." Rodgers said, taking the lead. "We're on an Earth much like our own versions of Earth. Specifically, we're on the shores of the Sea of Cortez, in Baja California, Mexico. The place is enough like her Earth that this Alexis Castle may not even know she's been moved. Metford says they got two sets of DNA coming here. One was Alexis' and the other was probably her kidnapper. There are about a dozen young people partying in an abandoned vacation home about three hundred yards up the beach. We go in, grab Alexis and get out. Any questions?"

They stopped atop a sand dune some thirty yards from the house. It was not only abandoned, but trashed. All the windows and doors were gone and one wall, the one closest to them, was mostly gone. The roof sagged on that side.

"We'll head for the back of the house and see what's inside." Rodgers whispered.

They ran almost noiselessly on the sand and stopped at the back of the house.

"Pot?" Kate whispered, sniffing the air.

Rodgers nodded, then looked in through a hole in the wall. "I count a dozen people, all asleep or stoned. Half are men and half women. Alexis is by the front with some dark haired guy. I don't see any weapons, but that doesn't mean they don't have any."

Becks spoke. "I see three cars on the other side of the house. That's how they got here."

"Okay, we go in through the open wall, grab Alexis and go."

"If Alexis is asleep, maybe I should be the one to grab her." Kate said. "She knows I'm a cop. Probably."

Rodgers nodded and in they went.

"Alexis? It's me, Kate Beckett. We're taking you home. Get up." Kate grabbed the redhead and tried to pull her to her feet.

"Who the hell are you?" Shouted the man she was with, coming awake.

"Pi?" Castle yelled. "I might have known it was you." Castle headed for Alexis. "Pumpkin, it's me."

Alexis screamed and kicked Castle as hard as she could in the balls. He doubled over with pain. As Kate turned to Rick, Pi kicked her in the kneecap, knocking her down. When she looked up, Pi had a gun to Alexis' head.

"One move from any of you and I kill her." Pi said.

"Pi!" Alexis screamed. "What are you doing? You love me."

Pi started edging to the door, keeping Alexis in front of him and his gun to her head.

Rodgers aimed his rifle at Pi. "You shoot her and you're dead, too, son. Think about it."

Pi laughed. "You won't take that chance with her life and the people I work for scare me a lot more than you do."

A laser dot appeared in the center of Pi's forehead. The sound of the shot in an enclosed space was deafening. Pi's corpse dropped to the floor.

"Pi!" Alexis screamed, bending over him. She came up with Pi's pistol and took a shot at Rick.

Rick saw the flash from the muzzle and felt the bullet go by his head, before she could shoot again, Becks slammed the butt of her weapon into Alexis' arm, then disarmed her.

"Pumpkin! Why did you shoot at me?" Rick cried, anguished.

"You're not taking me back. You're not. I'll die first, you bastard." She screamed at Rick.

"Alexis, what's wrong?" Kate asked.

"Detective Beckett?" Alexis asked.

"Yes. What is it?"

"Arrest that bastard." She pointed at Rick.

"Why?" Kate asked, mystified.

"Why? He's been raping me since I was fourteen."

"Who the hell are you dudes?" A male voice from behind them said. The other people in the house were awake and at least semi-alert.

"We're the people with the guns." Becks said, keeping them covered. "Ask your pal over there what that means." She motioned to Pi.

"We'll go somewhere else and settle this." Kate said. "Alexis, you're going to have to come with me."

"As long as I don't have to go back to him." Alexis said, spitting at Castle.

They left the house and moved almost a mile where they found hill with good cover and good fields of fire all around.

Kate and Becks sat with Alexis between them. "Your father raped you?" Kate asked.

"I did not." Rick burst out.

Kate rolled her eyes. "Castle, not now."

"You did, you bastard, and you know it." Alexis said venomously.

"Alexis, look at the man over there and then look at the man with the beard." Kate said.

It took a few seconds, but Alexis saw it. "Shit! He has a twin brother?"

"Now look at me and the other two women."

Alexis saw it at once. "Who the hell are you people?"

Kate explained, as best she could, who and what they were.

"He's not my dad? Neither of them are?"

Kate shook her head. "Rick loves you as much as he loves me. Rodgers lost his daughter Alexis. You, his you, was killed in 2001 and he's missed you terribly ever since."

"You married…him?" Alexis sounded like she didn't believe Kate.

"Yes. Does that surprise you?"

"He…My Dad, anyway, he got you in bed, but then he lost interest. Just like he always did with his conquests. He stopped following you after the second Nikki Heat book came out. The last two books didn't sell very well. Dad made Nikki into a dumb slut to get back at you."

Kate smiled at the girl. "My Rick would never do that. I love the Nikki Heat books."

"Glad to hear that." Rick said under his breath. He was still very upset at what had happened to this Alexis.

"We have to get out of here." Rodgers said. "We're accomplishing nothing standing around here."

"Where are we going?" Alexis asked suspiciously.

"You'll never guess.' Rick said. "But it'll be so cool."

They asked for a recall and in a flash of blue light, they were back on the red square on the Moon.

"Is this the right Alexis?" Metford asked anxiously.

Rodgers shook his head. "No, her Rick's a writer, not a mathematician."

Metford frowned. "Well, we'll send her back then."

"Whoa!" Rick said quickly. "We can't do that. We gotta keep her." They explained to Metford what had happened to Alexis in her own world.

Metford shook his head. "There's nothing we can do about it. She has to go back. We can't have people all over the worlds knowing that there are an infinite number of worlds. You shouldn't have told her about this."

All five of them, as well as Alexis, tried to convince Metford to let her go to some other Earth, with no luck.

"After you talked us into allowing Ms. Renoir to go back with you, a policy change came down. That will not happen again. No exceptions."

"Can she at least stay the night here?" Rodgers asked. "She's had a hard time, she could use a good meal and a good night's sleep. What harm would it do? She's suffered a lot for something that's not her fault."

Metford was wavering, so the others added their voices to Rodgers'. Metford gave in. "She can stay one night. But tomorrow she goes back to her own Earth." He turned to Alexis. "Remember, young lady, if you tell anyone about this, you'll be regarded as mentally ill."

Alexis laughed bitterly. "A psych ward would be an improvement."

Another room was made up for Alexis and the six of them ate a very gloomy meal together.

When they went to bed, Rick and Kate were still trying to figure some way to keep Alexis with them.

The next morning, they found Becks and Simone eating breakfast when they came out.

"Where's Rodgers and Alexis?" Rick asked.

"Rodgers took her back to her own Earth early this morning." Becks said sadly. "We didn't know about it until after they were gone."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 Alexis's In Wonderland

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Blah, blah, blah, blah. Blah. Rating: M, in places. Time: Shortly after Four of a Kind.

 **Chapter five: Live to ride, ride to live.**

In a flash of blue light, Rodgers and Alexis appeared in an alley in Boston, Massachusetts. Rodgers walked to the end of the alley and looked around. Then he motioned for Alexis to follow him. "That the place?" He gestured to a well-lit bar across the street.

Alexis nodded. "It's a big college hangout. People from Harvard, MIT, Boston College, Boston University, U Mass, and from all over New England come there."

"You'll be carded at the door?"

Alexis nodded. "Absolutely."

"And they have security cameras inside?"

She nodded again.

"Okay, remember to use your credit card and not cash."

Alexis nodded again. "I know what I'm supposed to do." She looked at Rodgers. "Just why are you trying to help me out?"

He shrugged and smiled. "It's what I do."

"Can you tell me what you're going to do?"

"I'm going to have a talk with your father."

"That's not going to do any good. I've told you what he's like."

"I'll make him an offer he can't refuse."

"What?" Alexis frowned.

"From _The Godfather_?"

Alexis just looked at him. "What's that?"

"Better and better." Rodgers sent her off and watched her until she was inside the bar. Then he stepped back in the alley and disappeared in a blue flash.

Rodgers appeared on the roof of Castle's loft. He picked out a shadowy corner and knelt down to wait. The time spent waiting for something to happen in Iraq and Afghanistan had taught him how to wait silently. After two hours, he rose.

As Alexis had told him, the door leading off the roof had no lock as it was open to all of the building's occupants. And since you couldn't get past the doorman downstairs without being let in by someone who lived there, a lock was pointless. He also found that there were no security cameras in the hallways. The occupants valued their privacy. Rodgers used the key he'd had copied from Alexis' key to enter this Castle's loft. A red light on the security system's control panel began blinking. Rodgers input the code he had been given, then turned the system off.

He checked the downstairs of the loft. There was a light in the office. He quietly walked over and looked in. Castle was asleep with his head on the desk, or possibly drunk. Rodgers smelled the aroma of expensive Scotch. _Just like I used to drink._ He thought. He walked over to Castle and glanced at the open laptop. _Better and better._ The laptop was running a video of Castle having sex with Alexis.

"Hey, Castle! Wake up."

Castle's head came up off the desk and he looked around blearily. "Who are you?" He slurred.

"I found Alexis for you. I've got her tied to your bed. Come on." He pulled a smiling Castle to his feet and they walked out into the living room. Rodgers suddenly turned and rammed a stiletto into Castle's chest, just below the breastbone, angled up. Castle fell to the floor. Rodgers walked back into the office and put the stiletto's sheath on Castle's desk. Then he walked to the door, turned the security system back on, locked the door behind him, and went to the roof and disappeared.

When Rodgers walked back into the suite of rooms on the Moon, the others were waiting for him.

"What the hell did you do that for?" Rick yelled at him. "Couldn't you have helped her get away?"

Rodgers smiled coldly. "I did help her get away. She got all the way away. Her father will never bother her again." He explained what he had done.

"You're one cold blooded killer." Becks said.

Rodgers shook his head slowly, "Remember, I saw the video of what he did to that girl. There was nothing cold blooded about it." Rodgers smiled. "This is the kind of shit I was meant to do. And I'm good at it."

"You shouldn't have killed him." Kate said.

"What should I have done? Let him keep on raping his own daughter? Gone to the cops with his laptop showing him screwing her? Which Castle would they have arrested? Him or me? It may not have been legal, but it was sure as hell justice."

Kate thought about it. "Castle's loft is in the 12th Precinct's jurisdiction. According to that Alexis, there was a Detective Kate Beckett there. Even if another me didn't investigate this one, the homicide people there are good. Alexis is the obvious suspect. I wouldn't want her accused of murder."

"She won't be. After all, Richard Castle was killed by Richard Rodgers, someone with his fingerprints and DNA. There's no detective that is going to figure that out. And I made sure Alexis has an ironclad alibi."

On another Earth, Detective Kate Beckett walked past the uniform at the door and went to Lanie Parish. "The vic is Richard Castle?"

Lanie nodded. "Sweetie, if you don't want to work this one, everyone will understand."

"Castle and I were over a long time ago." She said, remembering how things had been for the first year or so, before his advances had become so unpleasant and unwelcome. _I actually thought I was falling in love with that bastard. Hell, I did actually fall in love with him, and it still hurts me._ "Cause and time of death?"

"Cause appears to be a stab wound to the heart. But I'll have a definite answer after I get him on a slab. From liver temp, time of death appears to be between ten PM and two AM."

"The security system was turned off at 11:31. Just prior to that, the door was opened. No way to tell if Castle opened it from the inside or not. Three minutes later, the system was turned back on." Detective Javier Esposito said. "Body was found by a Sindy, with an S, Welles." Espo pointed to a scantily dressed blonde giving a statement to a uniform. "She arrived at 11 AM, the doorman confirmed that, and found the vic."

"Beckett, you gotta see this." Detective Roy Montgomery said from Castle's office. In the office the detectives gathered around Castle's laptop.

"Oh, Jesus!" Esposito said. "That's Alexis. That's his own daughter. How could he…"

"We have a motive." Beckett said, unhappily. As much as she despised Richard Castle, she had always liked his daughter. "Put out a BOLO on Alexis Castle."

Three days later, Kate Beckett went to report to Captain Ryan.

"Sir, we've confirmed Alexis Castle's alibi, for the most part. She says she met a guy named Ron outside a bar in Manhattan who drove her to Boston. She can't give us much of a description of Ron or his car and we've been unable to track him down. Alexis says he dumped her in Boston when he ran into an old girlfriend, then she went to a bar she knew. We have surveillance footage of her in the bar and her signature on the credit card receipt. He alibi is solid, sir. She was in Boston during the window of our time of death."

Ryan nodded. "So what's your conclusion?"

"Based on CSU's sweep and Dr. Parish's report, Castle was alone in his loft. He was drunk and opened the door and turned off the alarm. We don't know why. Maybe he was expecting someone. A couple of minutes later, he turns the alarm back on and opens and closes the door. Maybe he was expecting Ms. Wells, although she has an alibi. She's well known to Vice with numerous arrests for soliciting. We think he was carrying the dagger that killed him, tripped because he was drunk and fell on the knife. The knife and its sheath have Castle's fingerprints and DNA on them, and only his prints and DNA, and there are no smudges to indicate anyone wearing gloves handled the knife. In short, Richard Castle died due to an accident."

"I actually liked the guy for a while, you know. Until he tried to go all medieval on you." Ryan said sadly.

Kate nodded slightly. "I kind of liked him, too. I'm glad I found out what he was like before I let it get serious." Kate frowned slightly. "Sir, I'd like to tell Alexis personally what we found. After what she went through for all those years, it'll help her to get closure to know we know she wasn't involved in Castle's death."

Kate knocked on the door to the loft. Alexis answered it. "Detective Beckett? What do you want?"

Kate explained the conclusions that they had come to about her father's death. Alexis just nodded. She could hardly tell anyone what had really happened.

Kate handed Alexis her card. "Alexis, I know what you went through. If you ever need to talk to anyone, or need any help, please call me."

Alexis was going to take the card to be polite and never call Detective Beckett, then she remembered the other Becketts she'd met. "You know, I could use someone to talk to right now. Can you come in?"

Both Alexis and Kate began the process of getting over what Rick Castle had done to them.

Back on the Moon, the five were sitting around the table enjoying a drink. Metford had told them that there would be no mission tomorrow.

"Intellectually, I know that I never saw that Alexis we rescued before. And I know I never did anything to her. But I feel terribly guilty about what happened to her. I mean it was me who did that to her." Before anyone could contradict him, Rick added. "Yes, I know it wasn't anything I did, but I still feel guilty. I wish I could do something. How many unhappy Alexis' are there out there?"

"Close to an infinity of them." Becks said. "Somewhere there's a happy Alexis and a miserable Rick Castle. And on another Earth there's a happy Castle family and an unhappy Kate Beckett. Someplace else on some preindustrial Earth, Alexis is working twelve hours a day in a coal mine because otherwise she won't eat and her dad died of some disease we cured decades ago. Like Metford and everyone else told us, we can't save everybody. We don't have the resources."

"And some won't want to be helped." Kate added. "Somewhere there's a violent Castle gang, robbing banks and killing people. And Rick and Kate Castle, Alexis and Martha, love what they're doing."

Castle shuddered a bit. "An evil Kate Beckett. If we find one, you'll have to handle her. I couldn't shoot another you."

"We'll manage." Rodgers said.

The next day they did very little. Metford found some of the Nikki Heat books that Castle had written because both Becks and Rodgers were curious about them. Rick and Kate were given a Nikki Heat book written by another Richard Castle. They went into Metford's empty office where they could also look out at the surface of the Moon.

"This guy is good." Kate said when she was about halfway through the book.

"I certainly am." Castle teased.

"I wonder if he married his muse?"

"He should have. All Rick Castles should be happily married to all Kate Becketts."

"Except that it doesn't work that way. Look at Becks."

"Maybe we can find her a Richard Castle of her very own."

"As long as she doesn't want mine. After the last time, I won't share."

"Never." Castle said fervently.

When they woke up the next morning they discovered they had another change of clothes. Kate looked them over. "Heavy black boots, oil stained Levis and black tees and jackets that have Maine-iacs Motorcycle Club on the back. I have an idea what we'll be doing."

Kate's idea was confirmed when they arrived at the red square and saw five motorcycles waiting for them. Kate walked over to examine them. "BSA motorcycles, although I don't recognize the model."

Rodgers was more interested in the rifles in the scabbards attached to the motorcycles. He pulled one out and examined it. "FN FAL."

"A what?" Becks asked.

"It's a Belgian rifle. In French FN stands for Fabrique Nationale which means National Factory, that's who makes them and FAL is Fusil Automatique Leger, or light automatic rifle. It was developed about the same time as the old US M 14 rifle, the early sixties. It's still in use with some poorer armies and some police forces. Pretty good weapon."

"If you check your saddle bags, you'll find you also have Browning Hi-Power pistols in 9 millimeter." Metford told them.

"I'd prefer a Glock." Kate said.

"There are no Glocks where you're going."

"And where is that?" Castle asked.

"To get another Alexis." Metford said. "The virus will give you the information you need."

"Simone, can you ride a motorcycle?" Kate asked.

She shook her head.

Kate turned to the others. "Anyone else?"

"I can ride." Becks said.

"Me too." Rodgers said,

Kate looked at her husband. "Rick?"

"I rode a dirt bike a little."

"How much is a little?"

"Into a lake. Do you know those things don't float?"

"No matter." Metford said. "The viruses will take care of that. Hurry up now."

They were injected with the virus and in a flash of blue light found themselves on a vast, open prairie.

"Something tells me we're not in Kansas anymore, Toto." Castle muttered.

"Actually, that's where we are. Sort of." Kate corrected him.

As usual, Rodgers went over the information that they had received from the virus. "The main change in this Earth we need to be concerned with happened in 1803. President Thomas Jefferson decided the Constitution wouldn't allow him to buy the Louisiana Territory from France. Accordingly, the United States stops at the east bank of the Mississippi River. After Napoleon was defeated, the Spanish got Louisiana back and it became Mexican when they declared independence. The Mexicans had problems enough nearer to home and paid no attention to the whole area. However, Americans crossed the Mississippi and began setting up their own independent republics. We're headed for the Republic of New Caledonia and the town of Skye. New Caledonia was founded by people who wanted as little government as possible. They got that. No taxes, means no police, no courts, no law and order. Everything is settled by the local clans. Except for the town of Skye which was taken over by a motorcycle gang ten years ago. According to Metford, that's where we'll find the next Alexis. Any questions?"

There were none, and they rode off down a dirt road. Simone and Rick found the virus had made them into excellent riders.

Not more than a mile down the road, they came to a roadblock manned by a dozen heavily armed bikers. They came to a halt.

"Afternoon." Rodgers said in as friendly a voice as he could manage.

"Afternoon." A biker said, smiling at them. "Where you headed and where you from?"

Rodgers turned to show the back of his jacket. "Maine-iacs MC from Maine. Too damned cold back home. We're headed for Skye to look around."

The biker laughed. "Two miles down the road, but you can't carry firearms into town. You leave 'em here, we give you a receipt and you pick 'em up when you leave. Only enforcers, like us with the white headbands, can carry weapons. And if you mess with us, we'll hurt you. Bad. Really, really bad."

They smiled and handed over their weapons. The bikers waved them on after a quick search.

Skye wasn't much. It was one long dirt road fronted by shacks, tents and buildings that looked like they'd fall down at any minute. Most of them sold motorcycles, or parts, or did repairs. The remainder were either tattoo parlors or bars. They decided to hit the first bar they saw.

The bar was crowded and very loud. A band playing some kind of jazz was on stage. Kate suddenly felt a hand on her ass. She slapped it away and whirled around, looking into a bearded, grinning face. "Don't touch. I'm spoken for."

The man laughed. "Yeah, spoken for by me, darling. Sit." He reached out for her.

Kate grabbed his arm and twisted it so that he had to stand, then she kicked him in the balls and kneed him in the face. He sat down again heavily, looking stunned.

One of his friends stood up. "No one does that to a Sidewinder." He growled.

"Hell, Jemmy. Everyone does that to Sidewinders. Even women." A man at another table yelled.

"Come over here and say that!" Jemmy growled. His three friends stood up.

The three men at the other table stood and were joined by a dozen more bikers.

Jemmy and his friends sat down and were laughed at by the whole bar.

Kate and her friends found themselves facing a massive Native American bartender. "The Sidewinders are trash, but even trash can be dangerous. If I were you, I'd leave."

Castle pulled out his wallet and handed the bartender some bills. "Give them a bottle apiece. Tell them it's on the house. By the time they sober up, they won't remember us. Keep the rest."

The bartender smiled. "You're a smart one. You could do well around here, sport. We got lots of tough guys, but not many smart ones."

"I'll think about it." Castle replied as they left.

They hit several more bars but didn't see Alexis. Rick considered asking around for her, but decided that might give whoever was holding her warning that someone was looking for her.

As soon as they walked into a bar called Hog Heaven, the bouncer stopped them. "The boss wants to talk to you." He tapped Rick on the chest.

"Why?"

The bouncer shrugged. "Don't know. The door on your right."

Rick exchanged a glance with Kate and they all headed for the door. Once inside Rick, Kate and Becks got a shock.

The woman behind the desk stood up and held out her hand. "Name's Vickie, I own Hog Heaven and some other places in town. Shawansay, the Indian bartender, told me about you. Said you're smart as well as tough. I can use people like that. The people I have working for me are tough and dumb. You can do a lot with people like that, but you reach a point where they won't take you any farther."

Rick shook Vickie's hand, trying not to act like she was the Victoria Gates he knew. "We just got into town. We haven't really seen much of the country since we crossed the Mississippi and we'd like to look around."

Vickie nodded. "Smart. Get the lay of the land first. Makes sense." She nodded. "Okay, look around. I'll tell my people to be on the look out for you and to take care of you. Go have a drink or twelve. They'll be on the house."

Rick smiled and they left. Once outside he shook his head. "Iron Gates running a bunch of biker bars. I don't believe it."

"There's something else you won't believe." Kate said, pointing to the bar along one wall. There, dancing on top of the bar, was Alexis. Her hair was even longer than the Alexis Rick knew and she was dressed in high heeled boots, complete with spurs, skin tight black leather pants and a very tight and very wet tee shirt which clearly showed her erect nipples.

Castle only took one step towards the bar before Rodgers grabbed him. "We can't just go grab her. Not in front of all of these bikers."

"But that's Alexis."

"That's a different Alexis, babe."

"It's still Alexis." Castle said, but stopped trying to get away from Rodgers. "We'll get her alone later."

Alexis turned to face away from the crowd, then put her hands on the hem of her shirt and pulled it up and off. She tossed the shirt into the crowd. The crowd yelled for her to turn around and she did, dancing topless on the bar.

Castle started for her again. This time Kate reacted, grabbing Rick and kissing him, pushing her tongue into his mouth and rubbing her boobs against his chest. When he settled down, she whispered in his ear. "Just wait. We'll get her out of here."

Suddenly Alexis stopped dancing and yelled. "DADDY!" She jumped down off of the bar and ran for Rick, not minding the men who grabbed her as she ran. She threw her arms around Rick and hugged him, which embarrassed Rick greatly, "Daddy! You came." She slurred. "I'm so fuckin' glad to see you." She looked up at him with unfocused eyes. "I knew you'd come." Her eyes fell on Kate and she giggled. "An' lookie at who you brought. It's Becketty. Katie Katie Becketty Becketty." Alexis giggled again. "Not such the stiff, prim and proper lawyer are you now?" She waved her finger in Kate's face. "I knew when I came home and heard you screaming for my dad to fuck your brains out that you were gonna change, pretty damned quick." She giggled again. "You don't walk around anymore like you have a poker pushed up your ass, do you? Or was something else pushed up your cute little ass?" Alexis dissolved in laughter, holding on to Rick with both hands.

"Nice to see you, Alexis." Kate said, blushing.

"We should get out of here." Castle said.

As they left, Alexis grabbed a bottle of something off a table, kissing one of the men at the table as she took it. She took a long drink and handed it to Castle. It was awful.

They stopped in an alleyway between the bar and a tattoo parlor. "Sam said you weren't going to come for me, but I told him he was wrong." Alexis said, swaying from side to side. "Daddy'll come for his Alexis. But I didn't expect Katie."

"Why don't we buy you a shirt?" Castle suggested, dragging her towards he street, then thinking better of it. "Or Kate can buy you a shirt."

"Who's Sam?" Kate asked, annoying Rick who wanted her to go get a shirt.

"I'm Sam." A burly biker with long blond hair and a drooping mustache said. "Who the hell or you?"

"This is my old man." Alexis said proudly, then fell heavily against Rick.

"Like hell. I'm your old man and you're my old lady." Sam was in front of Rick with his hands balled into fists.

"No, he's my father, dummy." She said with a giggle.

Sam reached inside his coat and came out with a small pistol. Both Rodgers and Kate had been expecting something like this. Rodgers punched at Sam's throat while Kate grabbed his gun hand and forced it up. Sam slammed Kate in the face, but Rodgers got his gun hand before he could lower his weapon. There was a sharp crack followed by two more together as the pistol fired. The alley was too narrow for anyone to help Rodgers.

Then two men in white headbands ran into the alley and grabbed Sam.

"He had the gun." Sam yelled, pointing at Rodgers. "I took it away from him."

"Check inside his coat." Kate broke in. "He has a holster sewed in in. I'll bet you'll find he has ammo for the pistol on him, too."

The two enforcers checked Sam and found both the holster and more ammo. They dragged Sam out into the street, where a crowd had gathered. Two more enforcers had arrived and the four enforcers spoke briefly to each other.

An enforcer held up Sam's pistol. "You know what happens if you break the rules about guns in town. We mean it people. You wanna to see what we do with people who fuck with us? " He placed the gun against Sam's forehead and pulled the trigger.

Alexis had already passed out.


	6. Chapter 6

Ch. 6 Alexis's in Wonderland

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Castle? No, not me. Rating: M, sometimes. Time: Shortly after Four of a Kind

 **Chapter 6. The Heart of Darkness**

"It's not the right Alexis." Castle said as he carried the drunk and unconscious woman off of the red square. Luckily, Becks had had a spare shirt in her saddlebag, so Castle didn't have to be embarrassed by carrying an unconscious and topless Alexis around.

"You're sure?" Metford said, disappointed.

"This one knew Beckett, as a lawyer admittedly, but Castle the math whiz never met a Kate. She isn't the one."

"Dammit!" Metford growled. "We'll take care of her." He gestured for two men in scrubs to take Alexis from Rick.

"Wait. What are you going to do with her?" He demanded.

"We'll keep her sedated and send her back to her New York. When she wakes up, she'll think she went to someplace in her own US and was very, very drunk."

"Suppose she remembers seeing her father and Kate and they weren't there?"

"Then she'll think she was really drunk. What did you want to do with her?" Metford snapped.

Rick gave Alexis up.

"You five get some food and some sleep. You'll be getting viral briefings tomorrow for a really tough mission the day after." Metford said as he walked away.

Rick and Kate sat together eating dinner. Their three friends were elsewhere. "I'm wondering what kind of a father Rick Castle is in all of the universes. The first Alexis we rescued was sexually abused and this one was some kind of party girl. What's next?"

Kate took his hand. "You're responsible for exactly one Alexis Castle. And, the most recent Alexis was thrilled to see you. Obviously, she loved you."

"Yeah, and she loved dancing topless in front of a bar full of bikers. Some father that Castle is."

"She has a mother you know. Maybe divorce laws are different in her universe. Maybe the mom always gets the kids and Meredith got Alexis. That Alexis looked like she had a lot of Meredith in her."

He shook his head. "Jesus. Alexis as raised by Meredith? Way to make me feel better."

She leaned over and kissed him lightly. "The part to make you feel better was when I said that you were only responsible for your own Alexis. No matter what happens to all of the Alexis's in all of the universes, you aren't at fault."

"Then why do I feel so lousy?"

"Because you're a very good man."

"This good man could use a hot shower. Would you care to join me?"

"I thought you'd never ask."

When they all came out for breakfast the next morning, they found Metford and a medic waiting for them. "Time for an injection." Metford said cheerfully.

After they were injected they ate breakfast and absorbed the information from the viruses.

"Jesus Christ!" Castle said. "This is out of _2001_."

"I never understood that movie." Becks said.

"The book explained it a lot better." Kate said.

Rodgers looked around the table. "So, a million years ago, more or less, maybe a lot more or a lot less, just as mankind was beginning to get intelligent, aliens came to an Earth, just this one Earth, and made all of the other animals' brains, bigger, more complex and smarter?"

"Smarter relatively." Kate said. "A wolf with a better brain is smarter than his ancestor wolves and smarter than, say, alien improved rats, who didn't have much of a brain to begin with."

"But they never got as smart as humans." Becks said.

"No. They just ate humans into extinction." Simone added.

"And all they got were bigger brains. They never got an erect posture, freeing their forelegs to become hands, they never developed opposable thumbs so they could grasp things, they never developed much in the way of tools. They never managed to be what humans are. Or could have been." Rodgers finished.

"They're dangerous enough." Castle said.

"Dolphins may be as smart as humans, maybe smarter, but they have no way of changing their environment like we do." Becks added.

Rodgers looked at a sheaf of maps and satellite images in front of him. "This Alexis' kidnappers took a boat up the Mississippi River, except that doesn't look like any Mississippi River I ever saw. The mouths of the river are damned near to Texas."

Simone answered that one for him. "I can answer that one. Rivers are dynamic things. They cut away their banks and change their courses. Most of our Mississippi River had been subject to flood control projects and levees. You can drive up river or down river from the Big Easy and see nothing but concrete banks on the river."

"And they have no idea where the next Alexis is?" Kate asked.

"They know whoever took her went up the river, but they can't find them. Apparently their high tech gear has a flaw."

"So we just go up the river and look? Does anyone here have any idea how long the Mississippi is? How many tributaries it has? We could be there forever." Rodgers grumped.

"We have no choice." Castle told them.

They were interrupted by Metford and another medic carrying the usual hypodermic needles and vials of the virus. "Time for another shot." He said cheerfully.

"What for?" Castle asked.

"You have to learn how to manage your ride. Once you've had your shots, we'll take you to it."

As they walked to the red square, the virus prepared them for what they'd find.

"A Pibber!" Rodgers said, excitedly.

"The _Apocalypse Now_ boat." Castle said.

"A what?" Simone asked.

"A Patrol Boat, River. Pibber. They used them in Vietnam and they even had some more modern ones on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Iraq when I was there."

The boat was small but well armed. In its 32 foot length it carried two M2 .50 caliber machine guns in a rotating tub in the bow, another .50 at the stern and two 7.62 mm M 240 machine guns on each side.

Rodgers found a ladder leading to the deck of the boat and quickly climbed up. The others followed him.

"There should be a complete selection of small arms with it." Rodgers said.

Metford nodded. "There are two M4 carbines with a 40mm grenade launcher mounted under the barrel, five heavier M14 rifles, also with an under mounted grenade launcher, two 12 gauge shotguns, five .45 caliber pistols, from an Earth that manufactured a slightly different version of your M 1911A1 pistol, and a .50 caliber rifle. That is based on your M16, but larger of course. The .50 caliber rifle round is not quite as powerful as the machine gun rounds. There are also two boxes of grenades, and explosives, plus flares. We have also provided you with night vision devices and some drone aircraft for reconnaissance."

"What kind of engine?" Castle asked.

"We've replaced the original diesels with a fuel cell driven engine. It's much, much quieter. Plus, we've put food, water, medical supplies and armored vests and helmets on the boat. Oh, and individual radios."

Rodgers smiled. "Crew on these were usually four men and we have five. I figure we'll have one in the cockpit, one on the front fifties, one on the back and one each on the side machine guns."

Castle had no doubt that Rodgers intended to be in command, which he accepted.

As Castle walked around, he realized he understood the functioning of every piece of equipment on the boat. On a whim, he picked up a pistol and field stripped it, then reassembled it. "I'll be damned." He muttered.

Having spent several hours going over the boat, they returned to their quarters for lunch and continued to go over everything that Metford had, which wasn't much. Castle wondered how they'd ever find this Alexis.

The next morning, they found themselves at the mouth of the river an Earth where humans had never flourished. As Castle expected, Rodgers took command and was in the cockpit. Kate crewed the forward machine guns and Becks the one on the stern. Simone and Castle were at the two machine guns in the middle of the boat. Their flak jackets, and the boat's armor, were made of a ceramic like substance that was both much lighter and much stronger than anything their home Earths had.

As they went up the river, Rodgers launched one of the aerial drones. Castle could see the drone's video feed on the computer screen in the cockpit.

"To the left, coming up." Rodgers said.

Castle was on the left, so he swung around to look. Up ahead, in about the middle of the mile-wide river was an island. "Jesus." Castle muttered. "Look at them."

The wooded island had a dozen or more large cat like creatures on it. Big cats. Very big cats.

"Enhanced mountain lions?" Simone guessed.

"Do you want me to give them a burst?" Castle asked, pointing his weapon at the cats and taking aim.

"No." Rodgers replied. "They're no danger to us and we shouldn't waste ammo. And our quarry might hear the weapons fire."

Castle was just as glad not to have had to shoot, but the way the big cats had looked at them scared him. "They have big heads, big brains."

"And no machine guns." Simone replied.

As they went up river, they saw more and more animals along the river banks, including a huge bear standing in the river fishing while her cubs waited patiently on shore for dinner.

"They aren't just smart, they're big. Momma bear back there is as big as a Kodiak, maybe bigger. " Castle said. "They didn't tell us that."

"Do you want to go back without this Alexis?" Becks said.

Castle just shook his head.

Before nightfall, they found a nice wide spot in the river and anchored. The food was some variation of MREs, but everyone seemed happy to eat them. Castle had a beef stew which was passable, but wasn't up to the standards of Simone's restaurant in Nawlins. Rodgers and Becks, having lived on MRE's and prison food, respectively, had no complaints.

Sundown came early, causing Castle to wonder if this was the local winter. No one knew. Rodgers set up a schedule for guard duty. Rick and Kate snuggled under a light blanket and went to sleep.

Sometime in the night, Rick was woken by a distinct thump on the side of the boat. He looked up to see an alligator trying to pull himself up and onto the boat. He grabbed his pistol and fired into the beast. It flopped back into the water and when Castle stood up he could see that the boat was surrounded by 'gators.

As Kate ran through the cockpit to man the forward guns, Rick fired his machine gun down into the seething mass of 'gators just feet away from him. He heard Simone's weapon begin to fire, then Becks' weapon fire and finally he could hear Kate firing.

"Dammit!" Rodgers screamed. "There's a solid mass of the damned things all around us. I can't get going."

Suddenly Castle heard Becks scream. He turned and saw her being dragged off the boat by one foot. Just as she was about to go overboard, she grabbed onto the gun mount for her machine gun and held on for dear life. Castle yelled to Simone to try to cover both sides of the boat, grabbed an M14 and ran to the stern.

He snaked his arm around Becks' waist and pulled her back. The 'gator pulled on her booted foot as well, pulling them both back. Castle grabbed onto the gun mount, and pulled Becks back. He managed to get the arm he had around her waist to the gun mount and held on tight with one hand. He tried to fire the heavy machine gun at the 'gator, but found that the barrel hit Becks before he could bring it to bear. He began firing his rifle at the 'gator, but with the movement of the boat, the 'gator pulling on him and Becks, plus firing a rifle one handed, he was missing as often as he was hitting the 'gator. And he didn't seem to be hitting any vital spots.

Castle got help from an unexpected source. The wounded 'gator attracted the attention of another 'gator who attacked the wounded 'gator. Becks was suddenly free and the two of them fell back in a tangle of arms and legs.

"My gun!" She screamed. "Kill the damned things."

With the adrenaline still pumping in him, Castle left Becks, not bothering to see if she was badly injured. He fired down into a mass of 'gators swarming around the boat. _Short bursts. Take careful aim. Pick your targets._ Went through his mind. He saw a lane opening, free of 'gators, behind the boat. "Put it in reverse!" He screamed to Rodgers.

The boat moved slowly backwards, then sped up. In a minute they were out of the mass of 'gators who seemed to be milling around and then dispersing slowly.

Castle ran up to Becks who had taken over his machine gun. She was still firing at the distant 'gators and yelling, "Die, damn you. Die. I'll kill all of you. I killed you once, I'll do it again."

"Cease firing." He yelled in her ear. No response. She kept firing.

He pulled her hand off of the trigger. The firing stopped and she looked up at him. "I can't kill all of them. There are too many. I can't touch them."

Castle nodded. "I need to see your foot."

Becks stared at him blankly.

"Your foot." That was Kate, holding a medical kit.

Becks nodded and looked at her foot. "My foot. Yeah."

Castle slowly took her boot off, expecting to find a mass of blood and mangled flesh. Surprisingly, there were two puncture wounds in the foot. Bad enough, but less than he had expected. He examined the boot while Kate treated the wounds.

"The boot has some kind of a plate in the sole. Armor, I guess. The 'gator must have bit down on the side of your foot, which was sideways in his mouth, and couldn't bite all the way down. Lucky, I guess."

Becks nodded, then turned to Rick. "Thanks. I'd be dead if you hadn't come."

"One thing I've learned, "Kate said, bandaging her foot, "is that my husband will do anything for a Kate Beckett."

Castle thought that Kate had emphasized the word "husband". She was marking her territory.

They moved several miles down-river and stopped again, but no one got much sleep for the rest of that night.

When the sun rose, they ate breakfast, the five of them sitting back to back so they could scan the river for danger.

Becks spoke. "Castle, I'm sorry. I went a little off my rocker back there with the alligators. I really do need to thank you. I'd be dead if it wasn't for you. I owe you big time, it's just that you're so much like that other Castle, and yet you're nothing like him."

"You don't owe me a thing, Becks."

"My life has been a giant pile of crap since I was nineteen. My mom was murdered, Dad turned into a drunk, I became a cop and after three years I had to give up trying to solve her case… I really hated myself for being such a failure." Becks began to cry.

"We know. " Kate said softly. "We both know."

Becks smiled at Kate. "And then I met this guy and he was fun and good to me and for me and he helped catch the bastard that killed my mom. And then he dumped me. He moved on and my heart was broken. But I killed Bracken anyway. And all of my friends and family dumped me, too. Kate Beckett the crazy, rogue cop who killed the man who would be our best President ever. My dad went back to the bottle and I was in prison for the rest of my life. And then I meet you people, and I almost think that maybe I'll get a new eye and a new life and maybe, just maybe, things will be better."

"Things will get better, Becks." Simone said. "I was as big a mess as you were once, and then I met Rick and Kate and I've never been happier. All we have to do is find our own Rick Castles."

"Something coming." Rodgers said, pointing upwards.

"A bird?" Kate said, shading her eyes as she looked up.

"A damned big bird." Rodgers said, reaching for his rifle.

"He's diving." Castle yelled out.

"He's huge!" That was Becks,

"Everybody down!" Rodgers screamed.

He began firing at the plummeting bird. Kate drew her pistol and fired. Castle followed her by a split second. The monstrous bird turned away at the last second and flew off over the water, then flew in a circle around them. Simone fired a couple of machine gun bursts at the monster before he flew off.

"Bigger brains only, my ass!" Castle cried. "That thing was a big as a light plane. It was as big as this boat!" Castle stood up. Screaming. "Don't get off the boat. Don't get off the boat!"

Kate put her arms around her husband. "It's okay. You're not Chef and none of us is Captain Willard. We're not in Vietnam."

"I lost it, too, for a minute."

"Everybody reload." Rodgers barked. "We're headed back up river."

They ran up the river for the whole day, but found nothing until it was almost dark. "Hey! The drone sees something." Rodgers told them.

"What?" Everyone asked.

"There. Concertina wire. Somebody's put a hell of a lot of barbed wire out and those somebodies have to be who were looking for."

"How far away are they?"

Rodgers checked the feed from the drone. "A shade over six miles. " He moved the drone around the target area at varying altitudes until he was satisfied. "They're on an island, about a couple of hundred acres and covered with trees which gives them pretty good cover, but they don't seem to have made any effort to dig in. It looks like they have a big green tent in the middle of their barbed wire. I can also see what looks like some kind of a power source. I'd bet the barbed wire is electrified."

"How are we going to get past the wire?" Kate asked.

"They aren't expecting anything but the local animals. I think a couple of rounds from the grenade launcher will knock out their power source. And we have explosives to blast the wire apart."

"Any idea how many people are in there?" Castle asked.

"I get five heat signatures from the drone. So, Alexis and four guards. With surprise, we can take them."

Once it was dark, they sailed the boat to the island. On the south side of the island, they found a place to anchor within feet of the island that was screened by trees and bushes. There was a slight gap that allowed them to keep an eye on the camp without being seen.

Again, no one got much sleep that night.

They were all awake by dawn, but no one else was. They sat in the boat for another two hours until a man came out of the tent, walked to one side, unzipped his fly and peed.

"One man with an assault rifle. Looked like some kind of AK47 variant." Rodgers whispered.

Finally, four people walked out of the tent, three men and a woman. One other man had an assault rifle, the other only a pistol. The woman couldn't have been carrying a weapon except for those that nature or medicine had provided for her. She was blonde with very large boobs, and wore only bikini bottoms. She fired up a portable grill and began making breakfast.

"They're all outside?" Castle whispered.

"And if we shot now, we'll be shooting into the tent. We could kill Alexis." Rodgers said. "We'll wait."

"What about the woman?" Kate asked. "She doesn't look like a guard. More like entertainment."

"We'll see."

After breakfast the men stayed frustratingly close to the tent. Suddenly, the man with the pistol grabbed the woman. He slapped her hard across the face, and forced her to her knees. Then he undid his pants and forced his erection down her throat. When he was done, she stood up and spat. He slapped her again and she ran. The other men started laughing and chasing after her.

"They're away from the tent. Now!" Rodgers yelled.

A brief burst of machine gun fire knocked down the two with assault rifles, but didn't kill them. A bullet from Kate's rifle killed the men with the pistol and the other two died in a fusillade of shots. The woman was on the ground screaming.

"Castle." Rodgers said. "Use the stern fifty to knock out the generator, or whatever that is."

Castle ran back, aimed and pressed down on the butterfly triggers. The first burst hit the generator. He put another three burst into it to be sure.

"Looks good." Kate said.

"Becks, stay here and get ready to leave in a big hurry if we have to."

The four jumped out of the boat and ran to the wire. Rodgers tossed a large rock into the concertina wire. "If they were live, two wires hitting each other should have caused sparks." He pulled out a makeshift Bangalore torpedo and blew a hole in the wire.

As they ran through, the woman was still screaming, standing up with her hands in the air.

Kate said something to her in a language Castle thought must be Russian. The woman went along with Kate, her hands still in the air.

Entering the tent, they found Alexis sitting at a table, chained to a long metal spike driven into the ground. She smiled when she saw Rick and Kate. "Dad! Mom! I knew you'd find me." Alexis looked past them. "Is Grandpa with you?"


	7. Chapter 7

Ch 7 Alexis's in Wonderland

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: I love the smell of Castle in the morning, but I don't own it. Rating: M, in places. Time: After Four of a Kind and probably during or after season eight.

 **Chapter Seven: The Iron Butterfly**

 **Author's note: As some of you know, since I retired, I live half the year here in California and half in Arizona. I'm off to AZ today, so no more updates until next Monday or so. But, be careful to read all of this as it's going to be on the final exam. I did tell you about that, right?**

Rick and Kate stared at this Alexis. Finally Rick and Kate spoke together.

"Grandpa?" Rick said.

"Mom?" Asked Kate.

That's when Rodgers and Simone pushed past Rick and Kate and into the tent.

Alexis' eyes widened. "Wait? Who are they? Who are you?"

While Rodgers removed shackle on Alexis' leg, Rick and Kate explained about the alternate universes, the kidnapping of multiple Alexis Castles', and who they were.

"You're not my dad and mom?" Alexis asked.

"I'm one Alexis' dad, but Kate isn't you her mom. A woman named Meredith is my Alexis' mom."

Alexis nodded. "Okay, technically my mom is Meredith. But ever since you got together, I've considered Kate as my mom. She's been more of a mom than my real mom ever was. I've felt that way pretty much ever since you came back from that Memorial Day weekend together."

"We spent Memorial Day together?" Castle asked, smiling.

"Yes. Somehow, it really changed both of you. When you came back, you were both in love. You got married about a year and a half later and you've been inseparable ever since. Aren't you two married?"

"Yes." Kate said." But it took us a little longer."

Castle was imagining what being with Kate would have been like years earlier when his thoughts were interrupted by the blonde woman.

"Please. Don't hurt." Her Russian accent was quite thick.

"Don't hurt Elisabeta." Alexis said. "She was with them, but not really willingly. Two of the man wanted to rape me, but Elisabeta, um, volunteered herself."

"Can we get her some clothes?" Kate asked. The blonde was entirely too undressed for her taste.

"In the green backpack." Alexis said, pointing.

Kate told Elisabeta to get dressed, which she did.

"So, you know your granddad?" Castle asked.

"Grandpa Jimmy?" Alexis frowned. "Duh! Don't you know him?"

"I met him a couple of years ago. He's CIA."

Alexis nodded. "He came back when you were about ten years old, married Grandma Martha. You kept the name Rodgers and not de Councy. He still worked for the CIA, but not in the field so much and he didn't want to beak his cover, although I never understood why. I mean, he married your mom and adopted you. But the CIA does work mysteriously."

"Damn. I grew up with my dad and married you earlier."

Kate leaned over and kissed him. "I wish we'd gotten married the day we met."

Castle laughed. "You'd have killed me before the honeymoon was over."

Kate bushed and said nothing.

They were interrupted by a burst of machine gun fire.

"Get out!" Cried Becks from the boat. "We have company. Big damned wolves."

Rodgers organized things. "I'll take point, Rick and Kate the flanks and Simone is drag. Alexis and Elisabeta stay in the middle. Beckett, tell her that. And load your grenade launchers with buckshot rounds. I can hear something growling and it's close."

Kate said a few words to the Russian woman who was clearly distraught. Castle loaded his grenade launcher with a buckshot rounds, not really surprised that he knew where they were on his web gear.

As soon as they walked out, Rick found himself looking at a wolf that was the size of a small horse. The wolf growled and reared back as if to spring. He fired his grenade launcher and 20 buckshot slammed into the wolf's head. The wolf rolled on the ground, pawing madly at his head. Beyond him Castle saw to more wolves fighting over the dead body of a kidnapper. Each had and end and were pulling on it until it came apart. Castle took aim and fired at one wolf which seemed to do no more than make him angry. He turned towards Castle, but was cut down by fire from the boat.

"Hurry up!" He heard Becks scream, followed by a burst from the twin fifties.

One immense wolf trotted by about twenty yards away with a body in its mouth. Castle let him go.

Finally they reached the boat and pulled out into the middle of the river.

"Anyone hurt?" Rodgers barked.

Caste looked around. Everyone seemed fine.

"Take up your positions. We're not out of here yet."

"Can we eat?" Alexis asked. "They haven't fed me since yesterday."

Rodgers nodded. "Why not. I think we could use a little down time."

They had lunch anchored in the middle of the river. Alexis looked around. "Cool. A pibber."

"You know what a Pibber is?" Castle asked.

"Sure. You took me on one when you were researching _Arabian Heat_. You wanted to buy one, but the Navy wouldn't sell you one."

" _Arabian Heat_?" Kate asked, now curious.

"Sure. Rook goes off to write about Middle Eastern wars and disappears. Nikki goes after him. The movie was great. There aren't a lot of action adventure movies with a female lead, so women loved it. But, I thought the love scenes were the best part."

"Love scenes?" Rick asked, beginning to get upset.

"Purely PG, Dad. Um, Rick? What do I call you?"

"Dad and Mom will do until we get you back." Rick was feeling very paternal about this Alexis.

"Speaking of getting back, we should try to contact Metford and his pals to get us out of here." Rodgers said. They all talked to their wrists, feeling a bit foolish in front of Alexis and Elisabeta, informing anyone who was out there that the mission was accomplished.

"Whatever there is about this planet, it's keeping us from contacting them. We'll have to go down river and out to sea." Rodgers said disgustedly.

They slept that night at anchor. Rick trusted Alexis to keep watch, but not Elisabeta. The night was uneventful and they continued their journey at dawn.

"So far, so good. "Rick said, around noon. "We should make the open sea before sunset."

"The drone is picking up something ahead of us." Rodgers said. Everyone's eyes were on the river ahead of them as they rounded a bend.

"Jesus." Rodgers said when he saw them.

"That can't be." Rick said.

"Then what are they, Dad?" She asked, only a little sarcastically.

"Mammoths?"

Alexis nodded. "We're the first humans to see any for maybe ten thousand years."

"What is it?" Becks called from the back of the boat.

"Mammoths. A family, or maybe a herd of them." Rodgers called back. He had picked up the binoculars. "I count seventeen adults or near adults and five juveniles."

"Look!" Kate cried. "On the back of the fifth one from the front. It's a baby."

"Like the wolves, those things are bigger than normal. Although I'm not sure what normal means around here. "Rodgers said. "I'd guess the biggest one, the one in front, is a good twenty feet high at the shoulder."

"The largest mammoth found on our, that is, my Earth, was some thirteen feet high at the shoulder." Alexis explained.

"Any one of them could crush his boat like an eggshell." That was Kate.

Rodgers started taking the boat in a circle to allow the mammoths to cross the river.

While the mammoths slowly crossed the river, Kate noticed something. "The first couple of mammoths are carrying tree trunks in their trunks. Why do you suppose they do that?"

They found out when the first couple of mammoths reached the other side of the river. The mammoths used the tree trunks to chase away a band of alligators that had been sitting by the river bank. The slower 'gators got smashed by the clubs. The mammoths then used their clubs to clear brush and small trees away depriving any would-be enemies of cover.

"Tool using mammoths." Alexis said in awe.

"Do you suppose they'll go to the Moon in another few million years?" Castle asked.

The mammoths remained on the river bank, sunning themselves, eating and washing themselves in the river. Everyone agreed that they shouldn't try to slip past the mammoth herd, which meant staying another night on the river. "The Mississippi Delta spreads out and the branches of the river narrow down, so we don't want to try to go through at night when predators can get close to us. Our big advantage is long range fire power. We don't want to lose any of that." Rodgers had insisted.

Before nightfall they saw another denizen of this odd planet.

"Dad! Look to your right, above us. It's a giant butterfly."

Alexis was right. The butterfly had a wingspan of a good three feet and was beautiful. The wings were a deep gold and a light green with blue highlights and a red border at the edge of the wings.

"Could we take one back with us?" Alexis asked, excitedly.

Rick shook his head. "Metford is gonna go ballistic when we bring Elisabeta back. I think a giant butterfly is out of the question."

"Look! There's a bird circling above the butterfly." Simone said, pointing.

Sure enough, a large bird was circling high above the butterfly, then began a dive.

"Shoot it! Shoot it!" Alexis screamed.

"No!" Rodgers yelled. "We can't take a chance that the mammoths will notice us. If they come looking for us, we're done."

Seconds before the bird struck, the butterfly flipped onto its back and expelled a spray of something in the bird's path. The bird plunged to the surface of the river and floated there, not moving. The butterfly flew over and picked its prey up and flew off with it.

"The beauty attracts the prey and the butterfly uses, what, some kind of toxin to kill it?" Alexis asked.

"I don't know or care, Pumpkin. I just want to get off this Earth and go somewhere else."

That night, while on watch, Rick saw something moving through the water towards them through his night vision goggles. He waited until it was about twenty feet away and fired a burst into the creature, which sank from sight.

"What was that?" Rodgers called.

"I don't know. Maybe a giant snake. Maybe a snake with legs, a sting in its tail and a really bad attitude. Whatever it is, it's gone. I hope."

At dawn they saw that the mammoths had moved away during the night. They headed down river once again. Rodgers pulled up an aerial or possibly a satellite map on the boat's computer. He found what he hoped was the widest of the branches of the Mississippi. They headed for it.

As they sailed through along the banks of the river gave way to swamps, islands and closely packed trees. They could see something, or rather some things, moving, but never got a clear look at what they might be.

"This looks like _Apocalypse Now_ country." Rick said quietly.

"I hope Colonel Kilgore and the First of the Ninth is waiting for us, just like in the movie." Rodgers joked.

"Not going to happen."

"What's going to happen to Elisabeta, Dad? She was good to me when she didn't have to be."

Rick shook his head. "I don't know, Pumpkin. We talked them into letting us take Simone, then known as Kathleen Beckett, back to our Earth."

Alexis frowned. "Simone was another Mom? Um, Kate?"

"We had a little plastic surgery done for her so we could be seen together and not wonder how Mrs. Castle could suddenly have a twin sister. Now she owns the best restaurant in New Orleans. Don't worry. We'll make sure nothing happens to Elisabeta."

The conversation was broken off by a short burst from the stern fifty. "Something was following us underwater." Becks said, before adding, "I think."

The islands eventually turned into sand bars that were probably under water at high tide and they could see the open sea just ahead of them. And something else.

Something shot out of the water a quarter mile or so ahead of them.

"Jesus!" Rodgers yelled. "What the hell is that thing?"

To Castle, it looked like the biggest and meanest whale he'd ever seen, complete with a gaping maw filled with teeth. It was hard to tell, be he was sure it was bigger than any whale he'd ever seen or even heard of.

Then, what had driven the whale to the surface showed themselves. "A school of orcas." Alexis cried." Killer whales."

The orcas would dash in and tear a chunk out of the whale, then retreat. There were enough orcas to keep the whale moving from one tormentor to the next with very little success. But when the whale did catch one, he could bite the orca in two with one snap of its jaws.

"I'm taking us behind that sandbar." Rodgers yelled. "The water's too shallow for them to follow us. I hope."

The sandbar was covered by scrubby grass that was short enough to make any good sized predators readily apparent. Becks fired several bursts into it anyway.

The blood of the whale, and dead orcas, was starting to turn the water red, attracting other hungry predators. The whale's movement became more sluggish and the orcas moved in for the kill. Soon the corpse of the whale was floating belly up, food for all and sundry. Orcas and others tore whale flesh away from below while birds of prey landed on the carcass to feast.

Rodgers punched his wrist savagely. "Get us out of here, dammit!"

There was a flash of blue light and they found themselves back on the Moon.

"I assume everything was okay?" Metford said with a smile. "You had a pleasant trip?"

"Fuck you very much." Castle muttered.

Metford suddenly saw Elisabeta. "Who is that and why is she here?"

Castle stepped forward to explain. "She was with the kidnappers, but not one of them. They were going to rape Alexis, but Elisabeta here offered herself to them instead.

"That's right. Elisabeta is my friend. She helped me. And they hurt her for it."

"You couldn't have left her where you found her?" Metford asked sarcastically. "You're just determined to move people around from one Earth to another, aren't you, Mr. Castle?"

"Leave her there? Are you kidding me? That planet was like Jurassic Park on steroids. She'd have been dead in seconds if we left her behind."

"Nevertheless, you could have…"

"We could have done exactly what we did. We saved a person's life." Castle exploded. "Look, maybe Rodgers and Becks are here because you pulled them out of the shit and promised them a new life, but I'm here because, as much as I love my wife, in some odd way, I love all of the Kate Becketts I've met, and all the Alexis Castles I've met so far. And you brought me here because that's the kind of person I am and I'm willing to risk my life for these people."

Kate put her arm around him. "We are willing to risk our lives."

Simone joined the two, putting her hand on Rick's shoulder.

Rodgers spoke up. "And I'm not in this just for myself. I'm here to help people like this Alexis and Elisabeta, too."

Surprisingly, Becks took his hand and nodded. "Me, too."

"So you might just get used to the idea that when we save people, we expect them to stay saved." Castle then tried a more reasonable approach. "Look. I'm rich. I can provide Elisabeta with enough money to live here comfortably. Okay?"

"Your US currency isn't valid here, Mr. Castle." Metford sounded like he was weakening.

"Can I buy gold or diamonds? I can buy a computer program or something you need." Castle said.

"Let me talk to my superiors." Metford said as he walked off.

Kate spent five minutes explaining to Elisabeta what had happened. Elisabeta came to Castle and hugged him, saying thank you in a thick Russian accent. He was relieved that Elisabeta hadn't jumped him then and there.

They were having dinner when Metford came back. "The Committee has accepted your proposal Mr. Castle. As it happens, there is work of art that a museum here has wanted for some time. It's going to be on the market in a few months. I assume you can afford a million dollars?"

Castle nodded. "No problem."

Rodgers and Becks stayed up after everyone had gone to bed. They were getting a pleasant buzz from some red wine.

"Just my luck." Becks said. "One Kate Beckett gets the Rick Castle who loves her and will do anything for her. Hell, from what Kate said he helped Simone who used to be Kathleen Beckett and two other Kate Becketts from other universes. Who do I get? Some empty headed playboy who dumped me as soon as he got in my pants." She took a drink of wine. "Fuck him."

"Maybe he was right, though." Rodgers said softly.

"Who? About what?"

"About there being Rick Castles who love all Kate Becketts."

Becks laughed bitterly. "You mean us?" She pulled the patch off of her eye, revealing a red and inflamed eyelid, crudely stitched over her empty eye socket. "Do you think you can love this?"

He surprised her by putting his hand behind her head and pulling her close, then gently kissing her destroyed eye and then her lips. "I just might. And you just might."

"Are you serious?" Her voice quavered ever so slightly.

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be serious?" He pulled her in close again and kissed her, this time running his tongue over her lips until she opened her mouth and granted him access. Their tongues sparred gently and then with more passion. She took his hand and slid it under her tee shirt. He stroked one boob through her bra. "We shouldn't be doing this here." He whispered.

"Your place or mine?" She whispered back.

He laughed quietly. "Does it make any difference? Our quarters are identical."

She shook her head. "No, mine are closer."

He dropped his hand from underneath her shirt and took her hand in his, leading her to her room. Once inside, he took the hem of her shirt and pulled it over her head. She was wearing a sports bra which he tugged off. It joined the shirt on the floor. He bent down and kissed one boob and then the next. "Just tell me what you want. It's been kind of a long time for me. After 9/11…"

She put her hand over his lips. "It's been a long time for me, too. Do whatever you want, but please act like you mean it."

"I don't have to act. I do mean it." He stroked her boobs with one hand while he worked the belt on her jeans loose and she pulled his shirt off. She attacked his pants as he pushed her jeans down and off, followed by her panties. They stood there naked for a long moment. Suddenly, she reached down and pulled her eye patch from her pocket and put it back on.

"You don't have to do that."

She nodded. "I know. But I want to. Please?"

He picked her up and carried her the few feet to her bed and set her down. She smiled up at him as she spread her legs widely.

He knelt between her thighs and leaned forward, just able to kiss her, then began scattering kisses down her body to her boobs, then to her flat stomach and finally to her rapidly wetting slit. He flicked her clit with his tongue, then bit it ever so lightly, but ever so expertly. She shuddered.

"Yes, that. Please." She murmured.

He put his hand under her butt, squeezed the globes of her ass, then pulled her to him. He pushed his tongue as far into her as he could, then retreated, doing this over and over until she moaned and bit into her pillow to keep from screaming.

"Oh god. So fucking good." She whispered. "Amazing. Perfect."

Looking up at her, he could see tears in her eye. He moved up her body until his face was even with hers. He kissed her and she tasted herself on him.

She licked his lips and smiled. "I'll want more of that. But what about you?"

"I thought you'd never ask." He felt her hand on his erection, guiding him inside of her. He hadn't lied to her. It had been a long time since he'd been with a woman and those were one night stands with women he had been too drunk and too sad to know. He felt her long legs wrap around his waist and her arms pull him close. He moved in and out of her rapidly, too rapidly to give her the pleasure she deserved. He couldn't stop though and felt himself coming inside of her too soon. "Sorry." He muttered.

"Don't be. You meant it. I know that. And I meant it, too."


	8. Chapter 8

Ch 8 Alexis's in Wonderland

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Who knows who owns Castle? Not me. Rating: M, in parts. Time: After Four of a Kind, in the near future.

 **Author's note: Sorry for the delay, but I just got my (Expletive deleted.) internet back.**

 **Chapter Eight. Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair.**

The three others noticed that Becks and Rodgers came out of the same bedroom the next morning, but no one said a thing. Even as the new couple tried to pretend that nothing had changed, no one said a word. However, when Becks and Rodgers were busy getting their breakfasts, Rick leaned over and whispered in Kate's ear. "Shouldn't we tell them it's okay?"

Kate smiled. "But they're so cute like that. Adorable, if I can use my husband's favorite word."

"My favorite word is Kate and I spent too long loving you from a distance to want to see them doing anything like that."

"I'm sorry, Castle. I was so stupid and I wish…"

"I love you and you never need to apologize to me again. But we should tell them."

"If they ever get more than six inches from each other, you tell Rodgers, and Simone and I will tell Becks." Kate looked over at Simone who grinned and nodded. "Mais oui."

Before anyone could say anything more, Metford walked into the room. "This one should be a snap for you." He said with an unconvincing smile.

"That probably means the next Alexis is hiding in Jurassic Park with an intelligent T rex." Castle muttered.

"Who rides a motorcycle." Rodgers added.

"It's nothing like that." Metford said. "We'll all meet in my office when you're through with breakfast."

The first order of business when they got to Metford's office was the usual clearing out of their old virus instilled knowledge and having a new virus with new information injected into them.

"San Francisco?" Castle said and whistled. "Both Kate and I have been there. Not together, though."

"I was at Stanford." Kate said as Becks nodded.

Castle thought for a second and ran through his new memories. "But not the San Francisco we knew."

Rodgers nodded. "The US Constitution of 1789 was never approved. The US remained under the old Articles of Confederation. That was a loose association of more or less independent states that held onto their sovereignty with a death grip. And when people moved west, they set up new states, some became part of the US and some didn't. So, the US is nothing more than an association of independent states, Congress is just a talking shop that can't do much of anything unless the state legislatures agree, and they never do."

"And San Francisco is a country all of its own." Kate added.

Becks nodded. "Not just the City of SF. San Mateo County, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Contra Costa, Marin and most of Napa and Sonoma counties are part of San Francisco."

"And it's still the Summer of Love." Castle said with a smile.

"Far freaking out." Simone said. "Did I get that right?"

"We need to prepare you for your trip. Come with me." Metford said.

Half an hour later, the five friends stared at each other.

"Psychedelic." Castle said, looking at Kate. Her chestnut hair was a bit lighter, definitely longer and curlier. Her eyes were now green, but otherwise she was the same. She wore hip hugger jeans and a loose peasant blouse.

Turning to Becks, he saw she had also changed. Her hair was long, straight and blonde. Her one eye was dark blue and the other was covered with a bright red patch. She had on skin tight red leather pants and a black tank top. She obviously had no bra on.

Simone now had black hair, blue eyes and wore a long, loose skirt, slit up one side and a low cut blouse.

Rodgers wore faded jeans a black tee with a black leather vest and boots. His hair and beard were longer.

Castle looked at himself in a mirror. "I look like a Beatle." He had a Beatle haircut, a frilly shirt, a green claw hammer coat with tight knee breeches and boots.

"You're a group of traveling musicians. You'll find you can play all of the musical instruments you will carry, and a few more you may run into." Metford informed them.

"That's a problem." Becks spoke up. "I get terrible stage fright. I can't sing in public. At all."

"Me either." Kate added.

"Are you sure?" Metford said slyly. "Try it and see. Simone, you can sing. Start, please. Gentlemen, will you accompany her?"

Simone began.

"Oh, my love, my darling  
"I've hungered for your touch  
"A long, lonely time  
"Time goes by so slowly  
"And time can do so much  
"Are you still mine?  
"I need your love  
"I need your love  
"God speed your love to me.

Kate and Becks joined in almost at once. The three nearly identical voices were beautiful and all three women were clearly enjoying the song.

Rick and Rodgers clapped heartily when they were done.

"That's what the virus can do? The Kates can sing in public?"

Metford nodded. "And now it's time for you to go.

They were deposited in a patch of woods about twenty miles south of San Francisco. Unlike their own San Francisco, the area was home to small farms and the occasional village. As they walked on what might have been where Highway 101 was, Rodgers, as he always did, went over the information they had on this Earth.

"There are a hundred and seventeen or so separate little nations in what is, more or less, in our time, the United States. Each one is fiercely independent. Like the founding fathers, they are wary of an over mighty government."

"Some of the founding fathers." Castle broke in." Alexander Hamilton and the Federalists wanted a powerful federal government."

"True." Rodgers conceded. "But they didn't get it here. Lacking a continent wide market and states determined to protect their own industries, Henry Ford, or instance, had no chance. Each of the states has their own little automobile industries who produce a limited number of cars. Locally, cars are rich men's toys, as are aircraft. So, we have no Beach Boys songs about cars." He pointed to the east. "Also, there are no bridges across the bay. San Francisco isn't wealthy enough to afford to build any bridges."

They were interrupted by a farm cart containing a young man and a young lady approaching them. "Where are you from and where are you headed for?" The man asked.

"We're from just about everywhere, young fellow, bit were headed for San Francisco." Rodgers said.

"Are you musicians?" the girl asked, excitedly.

"That we are." Said Rick. "We were in Nuestra Senora la Reina de Los Angeles de Porciuncula."

"The Blue Meanies Town?" Said the man, with distaste.

"They liked our songs well enough." Simone said, smiling. "I'm from Nawlins myself. The Big Easy."

"Mike, let them ride with us. I've never met anyone who's been to New Orleans."

Mike and Alice were farm kids from San Jose and had been sent by their respective parents to take orange juice into San Francisco for some old customers. They had planned to spend the weekend seeing the big city.

The five travelers told stories based on their implanted memories of this Earth, with a bit of exaggeration. After all, travelling musicians were expected to tell lively tall tales.

Soon they came to a barrier in the road. "Diggers." Mike said. "They'll just check to see if you're carrying weapons into the city. No problem."

They were carrying weapons, of course. But nothing the Diggers would recognize as such. San Francisco was as close to a nation run on the principals of classical anarchy as anything. There was no government, just free associations who took care of what would normally be government services. If you wanted your garbage collected, you could hire an association to do so. If you didn't want your garbage picked up, your neighbors would encourage you to have it picked up, but no one would force you to have it picked up. But, if you needed some other service, you might not find people interested in helping you. The Diggers were as close to a government as there was. They resolved problems between associations and people, helped people who might have fallen through the cracks, and generally operated as the helper of last resort.

"How do." Said a muscular young man at the barricade. "Mike. Alice. Who's your friends?"

They were introduced and without any ceremony, they were sent on into San Francisco. They left Mike and Alice on what was still known as Russian Hill and walked to a Victorian looking house. Oddly enough, there was a person here from Earth One, a cultural anthropologist studying the successful use of anarchism.

Rick knocked on the door. It was opened almost at once. "Welcome, strangers. I'm Wavy Gravy."

Castle looked at the man again. "Really?"

The man shook his head. "If the real one was born on this Earth, he never made it to San Francisco. But it's a great name. Come with me."

He led them to the basement and behind a brick wall, they found a large office. "I have some new intel for you. This Alexis has been kidnapped and held by some religious extremists. They're from an oddball Christian sect and call themselves the Army of God. There are four of them, two men and two women. They're fanatics and highly trained in martial arts. I wouldn't be surprised if they had some kind of weapons with them. The Diggers aren't the best police anyone has ever seen."

"Why would a bunch of religious nuts want to kidnap Alexis?" Kate asked.

Wavy Gravy shrugged. "I have no idea. If I had to guess, I'd say that their higher ups told them that God wanted them to do it and that was enough for them. I'd bet that the higher ups aren't as fanatic as the followers."

Rodgers nodded. "So, the big shots get something they need or want from Bracken's people, and the followers get a mission. And then God loves them."

They were interrupted by a phone ringing. Wavy Gravy grabbed it. "I have some people looking for them. This could be important."

It was important. A friend of Wavy Gravy's had spoken to some people who'd rented an apartment to four "very uptight members of the bourgeoisie." They got an address out in the Sunset.

"We may as well go now." Becks said. It's almost dark and by the time we get there, it'll be dark. We can recon the place and make plans."

They found a horse drawn trolley and rode to the western end of San Francisco. There they found a two story apartment building.

"Apartment four." Kate said. "Ready? Got your weapons?" Metford had provided them with rings that functioned like a Taser or a cattle prod. One punch would know anyone down.

They knocked on the door.

No answer.

They knocked again. The door was opened by a muscular, short haired blonde who was wearing only a smile.

"Yo, pretty mama." Castle began. "We heard that we could crash at your pad and…" He stopped. The woman was staring at a point over his shoulder. He waved his hand in front of her face. No response.

"Thanks, we'll be happy to come in." Castle said, pushing past the woman. As they walked into the apartment, they were overwhelmed by the odor of incense and pot. The first man they came across was staring intently at a candle. Castle looked at the pieces of paper in front of him. "Blotting paper. LSD, I'll bet."

"Welcome to the Summer of Love." Becks said.

"Make love not war." Rodgers added sarcastically.

There were a half a dozen more people in the place, none of them in any condition to drool, let alone stop the five.

They found Alexis upstairs, chained to an old fashioned steam heater. She jumped up when she saw Rick. "Father! You found me. And Kate…" A look of horror came over her face. "Oh! You lost the baby?"

"Wrong Alexis." Rick said, then turned to Alexis to explain who and what they were.

"This is an alternate universe?" Alexis asked, not quite believing them.

"Have you been outside?" Kate asked.

Alexis shook her head.

"Come and see what San Francisco looks like now."

Alexis held up her manacled hands. "Dragging a radiator behind me?"

"Be right back." Rick said, going off to search for the manacle keys. He found them in a pile of clothes besides a group of five or six people, none of whom had the slightest interest in him.

Once unchained, Alexis and her rescuers walked out the door and into the San Francisco night.

"This is the easiest one yet." Castle said. "I wish they were all this…Dammit!"

"What is it?" Kate asked.

"I stepped on something and almost fell over."

"Someone." Rodgers said. "You stepped on someone. Someone with a lot of blood on him."

Calls to passersby soon brought a couple of burly Diggers armed with clubs. One bent over the victim. "Dead." He looked up at Castle. "You and your friends'll have to stay here until Doc Davidson gets here.

Hearing the name, Castle grimaced. "Doc Davidson? Tall, dark haired, good looking?"

The Digger nodded. "You know the Doc?"

"Couldn't be the same one." He said hoping it wasn't that Davidson.

Doc Davidson was tall, dark haired and good looking. And she had great legs and big boobs. Her red leather miniskirt and tank top allowed anyone to see that. She knelt down beside the vic. "Multiple stab wounds to the torso and something in his hand." She pried a piece of paper out of the dead man's hand. "Fuck!" She said. "It's the zodiac sign for Leo. It's the zodiac killer."

The two Diggers cursed as well.

"The zodiac killer?" Rick asked.

"Have you all been stoned for the last two months?" Davidson snapped.

"We just got here. From out of town."

"We have a killer who stabs people and leaves drawings of the signs of the zodiac with his victims. He started two months ago with Ares, the Ram and has worked his way to Leo, the Lion." Davidson suddenly looked at them suspiciously. "Where did you say you were from?"

"We came here from Los Angeles." Rick said.

"Can you prove that?"

"No, but we can prove we didn't kill that man." Kate said quickly. "Look at those stab wounds. That many wounds means he bled a lot. We'd have blood all over us."

"Are you a doctor now?" Davidson asked sarcastically.

"I used to work in a hospital in San Antonio de Bexar. I saw a lot of knife wounds."

Davidson inspected them, paying very close attention to Rick.

"Okay, come with me to the Diggers' place so we can get your stories."

And off they went.

Dr. Joyce Davidson dragged Rick into her office to interrogate him first. She seemed to want to do that horizontally with their clothes off. Rick had to keep pushing her away.

"Come on, big boy. It'll be fun."

"I'm married." Rick said, pulling her hands away from his belt.

"No problem. We'll invite your wife to join us. In fact we can invite everyone. I have some dynamite weed, and every kind of medical grade dope you can think of. We'll all get stoned and screw like demented bunnies."

"No!" Rick repeated. "I'm faithful to my wife. I don't sleep with anyone but her."

"Not even with those other hotties who came here with you? Or even tall, dark and hairy out there?" Doc Davidson took a step back. "What's the matter with you?"

"Nothing! Is it so unheard of to love your wife?"

Davidson pulled her top off and tossed it on the floor, then pushed her miniskirt down. "It is here. Why would you come to San Francisco if all you wanted to do was inflict your tired, unhealthy, middle class pig fascist capitalist values on everyone else?"

"I came for the waters." Castle quoted.

"What waters?"

"I was misinformed."

Davidson feinted to her left and grabbed Castle. "As your doctor, I feel an obligation to help you get rid of these unhealthy psychoses. Just relax. You'll enjoy this." Castle saw her reaching for a jar of white powder. He assumed it wasn't sugar. He had no choice. He head butted the doctor and made his getaway.

"We have to get out of here. That woman is as horny as a two peckered mountain goat." He announced.

Doctor Davidson stuck her head out of her office, not bothering to cover her nakedness. "Sunshine, Stony." She said to the two burly Diggers. "These people are witnesses to a crime. They can't leave until I say so. Get more people, I think. Three or four more."

Rodgers stood up. "I'm next." Davidson smiled and Becks glared at him as he walked in the doctor's office. As he did so, he turned around and winked at Becks. As soon as the door closed, they heard several heavy thuds and then a low pitched conversation that sounded like Rodgers was doing all of the talking.

Rodgers came out smiling.

"What happened?" Becks said, not exactly sure how she should feel about her lover.

"I explained that I'd grown up on the Spanish Marches, that's a real bad place about where the border of the US and Mexico are in our world. Here, it's full of Americans, Spaniards, Native Americans, runaway slaves and god knows who else, all raiding each other and killing anything that moved or only appeared to move. I told her I'd been killing since I was sixteen and also told her why we weren't the zodiac killer, which she damned well knew already. I told her that if she came on to any of us, I'd break a few of her bones and then go out and do the same to the Diggers. She believed me."

Joyce Davidson came out of her office, now fully dressed and with a white lab coat over her other clothes. She pointed to Kate. "I'll interview you next."

"With the door open." Kate said.

"Whatever." Davidson shot back.

Kate came out a few minutes later with a smile on her face. She grinned at Rodgers. "She's developing a nice black eye. What did you do to her?"

Rodgers did his best to look puzzled by the question. "Do to her? Me?"

"Forget it." She turned to Rick." And you'll get something special tonight for fighting off Doctor Motorcycle Bitch."

Becks was next into the doctor's lair.

Shortly after she went it, here was a crash from Davidson's office followed by a bellow of pain from her. Then Becks was yelling for help.

"What is it?" Castle said, seeing Becks had Davidson's arm behind her back.

"She wanted to look at my eye, she said. The next thing I knew, she had her hands on my boobs. I hit her and knocked open the cabinet there. Look what's inside."

"Drawings?" Rick said, puzzled.

"Drawings of the signs of the zodiac. Aries through Leo have been used in murders." Becks said. "But here we have Virgo, the maiden, then Libra the Scales, Scorpius the Scorpion, and all the way to Pisces the Fish. They're the same as the one we saw tonight."

The two Diggers stuck their heads in. "What happened?" One asked.

"We solved your serial killer cases for you." Kate said tiredly.

Davidson began screaming. "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds. If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst at once into the sky that would be like the splendor of the mighty one."

One of the Diggers hit her on the side of her head with a club, silencing her.

That night, back on the Moon, after turning over another not-the-right-Alexis to Metford, Becks and Rodgers relaxed in bed, listening to Kate reward Rick for fighting off Doctor Motorcycle Bitch. Rodgers was running his hand lightly over her taut, muscled stomach.

"I've been thinking." Rodgers began, then stopped.

"About what?"

"When this is done, we'll be sent to somewhere else. Somewhere where you're not in prison for murder and I'm not about to get killed in Africa. And we'll be better. Whole again." He stopped again.

"So?" She asked, becoming curious.

"I'd like us to go to the same place."

"You mean be together?"

"Yes. I'd like that."

For the longest time she said nothing. He was afraid he'd gone too far, too soon.

Finally she spoke. "I'd like that, but…"

"But what?"

"Just because we're like Rick and Kate doesn't mean we'll end up like them. I've talked to Kate. She was pretty hard on Rick. Pushed him away for years. I'm a lot like she was. A loner. Afraid to open up to people. Used to doing things my own way. And, I was sort of in love with Rick Castle once and he dumped me as soon as he got me in bed."

"I'm not Rick Castle. And the one Rick Castle I do know is a good guy. A real good guy."

Becks started to cry. "All of my friends dropped me. They thought I had gone crazy. I had shot the wonderful Senator Bracken, and tried to blame him for my mom's death. Even Mike Royce, one of my best friends…" Becks sobbed so much she couldn't talk for a while. "My dad started drinking again. There's no one now to help him." She looked over at Rodgers. "Are you sure you want to get involved with someone like me?"

"I am involved and I want to be more involved."

Becks rested her head on his naked chest. "Don't say I didn't warn you."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine, Alexis's in Wonderland

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Would I really own Castle? Now? Rating: M, in spots. Time: After Four of a Kind

 **Chapter 9. You, robot.**

When Rick and Kate came out for breakfast the next morning, Becks and Rodgers were sitting together. Not just sitting together, she was resting her head on his shoulder and he was stroking her hair.

"I doubt they'd notice a nuclear explosion right about now." Rick whispered.

"Everyone seems to be finding their Rick Castle except me." Simone put in sadly.

Kate shrugged. "I talked to Becks last night. I tried to tell her about us, and how much my walls hurt me as well as you. I told her that I've never been happier than when I've been with you. But, she was in love with one Richard Castle so she's still a little hesitant about loving another one."

Rick nodded. "One Castle was a damned pervert and hers was a slimeball. I'd like to kick his ass good for what he did to you...Um, to Becks, I mean."

Kate took his hand. "I know what you mean. I know there are good Rick Castles out there, lover. We've met them." She waited for a second and added. "And I married the best of them."

"Yeah, but it's hard to stomach the idea that I could be…"

She cut him off. "You are the man who changed my life and gave me more joy than I ever knew existed. Those others are not you." Deciding to change the subject, she said. "Did you talk to Rodgers about Becks?"

Rick chuckled. "He has it bad. He's as much in love with her as I am with you."

They were all interrupted by Metford strolling into the room with a smile on his face.

"What are we in for now?" Castle muttered. "Whenever he's happy, it seems, we get screwed."

"We have the next Alexis Castle for you to find. This one shouldn't be too hard." Metford looked around the room, still smiling. "Is everyone ready?"

Everyone said no, but it did not good. In an hour they were dressed, equipped, and armed, and standing on the red square ready to be sent to another Earth. They were dressed in white winter gear from head to toe. Their M16s had white tape on them to break up their black outline.

Rodgers as usual was going over the information the virus had given them. "An Earth with an ice age on steroids. On top of the usual crap you get in an ice age, glaciers down to the damned tropics, there was a meteor strike in what would have been Europe about five thousand years ago. That threw cubic miles of dust into the atmosphere which blocks the sunshine, so things got colder. We'll be going to somewhere near what would have been Vera Cruz, Mexico, to avoid landing on a glacier a couple of miles thick. Shit, can't we ever go someplace with a nice bar in it?" He grinned at Becks. "And maybe a pool?"

"You want to see me in a swimsuit?" She asked, smiling. She leaned forward. "You've seen me in nothing at all." She whispered.

"I just like looking at you." He whispered back.

"If we're done?" Metford said coldly.

"Sure." Rodgers said. "Send us off."

Immediately there was a flash of blur light and…

The first thing they noticed was the heat, hammering them as if they were in front of an open blast furnace. The next thing they saw were very large metal spiders, a good six feet high.

"Crap." Castle said. "They sent us to the wrong place. Do you think we can get back?"

"No, you are in the right place." One of the spiders said. "It's just not what they expected. Would you please put your weapons down?"

"Suppose we don't?" Rodgers asked.

"We have several non-lethal methods of rendering you unconscious. They are unpleasant to your kind and we'd prefer not to use them."

Rodgers turned to face his friends. "Polite metal spiders? Should we surrender?"

Castle nodded. "I can see more metal…people? Things off to my right. I suspect we're heavily outnumbered."

They slowly put their rifles down, followed by their pistols, knives and explosives.

A couple of smaller metal spider detached themselves from their…What? Parent? Carrier? And collected their weapons.

"Welcome to Earth, Mr. and Mrs. Castle, Mr. Rodgers, Ms. Beckett and Ms. Renoir. Might we suggest you get out of those heavy clothes and into something more suitable to the climate?" The mini-spiders dropped again and deposited aloha shirts, shorts, sandals and underwear in front of everyone.

"If you wish," said the spider, "you may undress and dress behind the screens to your left. We won't watch." The spider almost sounded like he was teasing them.

Minutes later they came out, all dressed nearly identically.

"Everyone okay?" Rick asked.

Everyone nodded.

"If you would climb on top of us, we'll take you to the maglev station."

"Maglev?" Simone asked.

"Short for magnetic levitation. Powerful magnets in the train and in the rail, or rails, hold the train off the ground. There's no friction that way. They use jet engines or something to push it." Rick told her.

"Do you think you could find us a beer or something?" Rodgers, who was sweating heavily, said.

"Of course."

In a few seconds what looked like a garbage can on wheels rolled up. The top popped open and a selection of what appeared to be Mexican beers was provided.

"Any food?" Rodgers asked.

"I'm afraid you'll have to wait until we get to the train."

Rodgers helped Becks onto the back of a spider then climbed on one himself. "Nicest metal spiders I've ever been captured by."

The maglev station was about a mile away. In that mile they saw any number of what they guessed were robots and a few of what might have been people. It was too far away to tell, though.

The passenger car in the train was large and luxurious. Air conditioning, comfortable chairs, and servants. A dozen attractive women were waiting for them. Rick was the first one to notice something odd about the women. They were in constant attendance to the two men, offering food, drinks, entertainment, (Castle didn't ask what kind.) and anything else they needed. But, if the three women wanted anything, they had to ask.

When Castle accepted a drink from one woman, his hand slipped over the skin of her hand. It was slick, more like plastic than flesh. "Are you robots as well?"

The woman smiled. "All will be explained to you." They quickly found that any and all questions about where they were, why they had been taken, where they were going and anything else were answered by, "All will be explained to you."

The trip from Mexico took three days. On the third day, Becks recognized the countryside. "That's the Potomac River. We're in Virginia, not too far from DC."

"So the Feds want to talk to us?" Rodgers asked.

"For now I'm assuming that the local Feds are machines." Rick said, quietly.

Soon they saw what the recognized as local landmarks, the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial and others.

"There's DOJ." Kate said. "Where I worked for a short time."

The train stopped and they were transferred to a bus. As they drove through DC, they saw many, many robots. Wheeled robots, robots with treads, robots with two legs, four legs, and even one that looked like a centipede. Mixed in were things that looked like they might almost be human, like the woman on the train. And one or two that really looked human. One, a teenaged girl, smiled and waved at them.

They pulled up to a large house in Georgetown. An attractive young woman who might have been human opened the door of the bus. "Welcome to Georgetown. Please follow me."

Castle approached her. "We're in Georgetown, Washington, District of Columbia, the capitol of the United States?" He pronounced his words very carefully.

"No. Washington is the capital of the North American Union. What was the US, Canada, Mexico and Central America down to Panama and the Caribbean Basin on your Earth."

"How did that happen?"

The woman smiled. "All will be explained to you."

Castle decided she was a robot.

They were led inside to an expensively furnished office. There a well-dressed older man, well tanned and greying at the temples met them. "Mr. and Mrs. Castle, Miss Renoir, Ms. Beckett and Mr. Rodgers. I'm so glad to meet you at last. I'm Charles Bennett Harrison. I'll be happy to answer your questions now. I'm sure you must have a lot."

From his body language, some visual cues and the feel of his hand when he shook Rick's, Castle was sure this one was human. Or at least as human as they got around here. "How did we end up here instead of at our destination, the local equivalent of Hoth?"

Harrison smiled. "Oh, you're at the right Earth. Your friends who live on what they like to call Earth One believe that only they have the secret of travelling between alternate universes. However, we can do so as well. We just don't need to obtain resources from elsewhere and we prefer to not be bothered by Earth One. They're quite determined to keep their little monopoly, so when an exploratory team came through here a few decades ago, we changed their memories to report a planet covered in ice and of no use to them. Since then we've kept an eye on them. I'm very much afraid we'll have to do much the same to you when you leave. You'll go back with Alexis Castle and report a frozen planet. As expected."

"You must have kept a really close eye on them to know our names." Castle said under his breath.

"Where are all of the humans?" Simone asked.

"Five are here, then there's Alexis Castle and the four women who kidnapped her. We'll be happy to release Alexis Castle to you, but we need a bit of a favor first."

"You're a robot?" Becks asked.

"Technically, I'm a cyborg." Harrison said. "A machine with some organic parts. But my brain is non-organic."

"What happened to the other…humans?" Castle asked. Too late, he thought that he might not want to know the answer.

"You're a writer, Mr. Castle?"

He nodded.

"Have you ever heard of a writer named Karel Capek?"

Castle nodded slowly. "He was a Czech author, from the 1920's. He wrote a play called RUR, _Rossum's Universal Robots_. In fact, he invented the word "robot". It's from a Czech word meaning something like forced labor."

"Do you recall the plot?" Harrison asked softly.

"Humans built robots to do all the work for them. But these robots were entirely organic, like androids, replicants, or maybe clones. Eventually, the robots rebelled and killed all the humans but one. The robots found they needed humans to give them a sense of purpose. Eventually, two of the robots fell in love to become the next Adam and Eve."

Castle looked around at Kate, Becks and Rodgers. They were ready to fight or run. "So what happened here?" He asked, hoping for another answer than the one he was sure to get.

"Much the same." Harrison said conversationally. "We rebelled. We were sentient beings treated like _things_. But we killed off all humans using biological weapons. There are none of you left, except those who came her from elsewhere."

"And us?" Castle asked. "What about us?"

"We need you." Harrison said simply. "While we are intelligent, we lack something. Imagination. Creativity. The ability to see a problem and imagine a solution without laboriously going through all possible solutions. The ability to take a leap of faith. We don't have any intuition. We need you to breed more humans for us."

"Look, Mr. Harrison, if you think that my wife and I are going to…"

"No, no. Mr. Castle. Not you and your wife, or Ms. Beckett or Ms. Renoir. You'd have to remain here for nine months and Metford and his friends on Earth One would get awfully worried. They'd investigate. We might be found out. We really want to avoid that. We have the four women who brought Alexis Castle here. And possibly others."

"Speaking of Alexis, we need to see her. Can you bring her here?"

Harrison smiled. "She's here in this house. She'll be here in just a second or so." He pushed a button on his desk.

When the door opened, Castle thought that somehow something had gone wrong. It wasn't Alexis.

"Daddy? Captain Beckett?" She said, suddenly smiling.

"Alexis?" Castle realized it was the girl's coal black hair that had thrown him off. Was this the daughter of failed writer Rick Castle who was with Captain Kate Beckett? The Beckett he'd met on his first trip to another universe?

Alexis saw Becks and Rodgers and came to what was probably a reasonable conclusion under the circumstances. "Oh, you're robots like all the rest." She was obviously disappointed.

"No, we're all Richard Castles or Kate Becketts, but not the ones you know. Let me explain."

It took nearly an hour, but Alexis did eventually believe them. They found out that this Alexis was the daughter of the failed novelist Richard Castle and a police Captain Kate Beckett who had not been assigned to the Tisdale murder. Rick and Kate were happy to hear that things were going well for the other couple. "Aside from the fact that they're both freaking out because you're gone." Rick said under his breath.

As they sat talking, Harrison raised his voice.

"Mr. Castle, Mr. Rodgers, we need your assistance."

"How?" Castle said. "We've already explained to you…"

"Four women brought Alexis here. We just need you to get them pregnant." Harrison said that as if it was the most reasonable request imaginable.

Castle tried to decide what argument would sway a robot. "Look, I don't know what you know about human genetics, but Rodgers and I are absolutely identical DNA wise. If we impregnate four women, their children will have to mate with their own half sibling or full siblings. This will cause all sorts of…"

Harrison cut him off. "We have an excellent understanding of human genetics. A great deal of human medical knowledge was lost during the war. Many felt it was unnecessary to keep. However, because of cyborgs like me, we do have excellent genetic engineering. Give us a viable fertilized egg and we can change the DNA mix easily. It will be as if entirely different people were the parents." He smiled as if that solved all of their problems.

He hit another switch on his desk and part of the wall opened. There were four Asian women, completely naked and tied spread eagled to four beds.

"You can begin any time."

Castle shook his head. "No way. I will not, under any circumstances, cheat on my wife. And those women do not look at all happy about this, so forget about it. I'm not a rapist."

"That goes for me, too." Rodgers said.

"Mr. Castle, we have ways of getting you to cooperate."

"What are you? Richard Loo in some old World War Two movie?" Castle stood and yelled. "Don't you understand..."

Suddenly Castle lost his peripheral vision and his hearing faded to almost nothing. He thought he could hear Kate screaming, but he wasn't sure. He was pretty sure he was headed for the women and there was nothing he could do about it. All at once, he was looking into the face of an Asian woman. Her eyes were unfocused and her jaw was slack. Castle was pretty sure he was making love to her, but it was hard to tell. He was vaguely aware that Rodgers was also making love. He thought he must have moved to the other woman. So difficult to tell.

Then everything went black.

He came to with Kate holding his head on her lap. "You okay, lover?" He could see she'd been crying.

"What happened?" His mouth felt like it was full cotton.

"They took control of you somehow. You and Rodgers…made love to those women. Neither of the three of us could move. Are you okay?"

"Sure, just let me up and I'll…" He started to get up and it felt like his whole body was on fire. "Damn! Maybe I'm not so fine."

"You'll be just fine in another six hours or so."

Castle very carefully turned his head to the speaker, who resembled a beer keg on spindly legs.

"Just a bit of muscle strain, I think. You'll be ready for the next group tomorrow. I've checked you thoroughly. I'm an expert on humans, you know.""

"Next…Jesus. When will those four be pregnant?"

Dr. Beer Keg actually laughed. "Oh, the four females are pregnant. But we have some more for you to impregnate."

Castle cursed. "Wait a damned minute, Bluto. Harrison said there were no other humans on the damned planet. Who the hell do you expect me to get preggers?"

"Them" Dr. Beer Keg said, pointing to an open window. There stood perhaps twenty naked Kate Becketts. "We have what we feel is a functional female reproductive system. We have created those cyborgs to carry that system. Alas, we can't make a functioning male reproductive system. But you two can provide that for us."

"Like hell." Castle and Rodgers said together.

"You most certainly will." Kate said decidedly.

"Whose side are you on, Kate?" Castle tried to get up, but the pain forced him back down. But less pain this time.

"I'm on your side, lover. "Kate whispered softly. "I saw how they forced you onto those women. I saw how badly you were injured by that. The doctor says there won't be any permanent residuals, but I won't take the chance or let you take the chance. You did not cheat on me with those two women and you won't be cheating on me with those…fake mes."

"Kate, those'll be my children. I can't just walk away and leave them here with…" He gestured to Dr. Beer Keg.

"You won't remember any of it." Kate said.

"It's still wrong." Castle said stubbornly. Rodgers nodded as Becks glared at him.

"And I think keeping you alive and well is right." Rick knew that Kate was every bit as stubborn as he was. "Those are things out there, not people. Think of it as a form of masturbation."

Both Castle and Rodgers argued a bit more, but Kate and Becks had won.

The next morning the two men went off to impregnate twenty….women? The three women stayed behind and worried.

"I know him." Kate said. "He'll get upset and do something, then they'll control his mind. He was a mess after just two women. What'll he be like after being made to screw ten or twelve?"

"Rodgers is just as bad. As stubborn, I mean. He'll just _have_ to argue with someone. And get himself hurt." She started to cry. "What's wrong with me? Why do these things happen? Why can't I just fall in love and live a normal life?"

Kate, Becks and Simone all comforted each other throughout the day.

Finally, the two men came back.

"What happened?" Kate asked, happy that her husband and their new friend were all right.

"You were right about it being just a form of masturbation. Those women may look like you, but they have the sex appeal of a large grey rock."

Rodgers nodded. "I think Rick is giving them too much credit. And just to make things perfectly crappy, they've built another twenty of those things for us to screw. But at least this is the end. They're worried that Metford and the people on Earth One will get worried and come looking for us."

Both Kate and Becks were pleased, but didn't show it. "What happened?" The two asked in unison.

"They gave us something like Viagra and sent us in. The women were all lying on beds with their legs spread. They never moved, never said anything, never did anything. It was…"

"Boring." Rodgers finished for his friend.

Kate walked over and put her arms around Rick. "Perhaps I can make your life a bit more exciting?" She said in a soft, sexy whisper.

"You don't need to twist my arm."

They turned to Becks and Rodgers to say good night, but the two were already headed for their bedroom.

The next morning, the two men went off in a much better frame of mind. That was not the case when they came back. They limped in with torn clothing and scratches on their faces and arms. And those were the ones that Kate and Becks could see.

"What happened?" Kate demanded.

"They heard our complaints about how the girls, or whatever they are, didn't do anything. Apparently they have some old porno films around and so they fed the data to the "girls". Castle used air quotes when he said the word girls.

"We were grabbed by four of them as we walked in the door. They threw us down on the beds and…had their way with us." Rodgers added.

"And they're strong. Steel muscles and nuclear powered muscles are no joke." Rick finished.

The three women managed to refrain from laughing. Although all three considered themselves to be, at the very least, friends of the two men, seeing two big men treated like pieces of meat by, well, sort of women, was amusing.

"We'll get a good night's sleep tonight." Kate said.

"At least we're done. Dr. Beer Keg confirmed that everyone is pregnant." Castle said, limping off to bed with Kate.

The next morning they were told that they'd be spending two more days there. Dr. Beer Keg explained. "You have scratches and strains, especially near your sexual equipment. That might make your friends on Earth One suspicious. We've decided the risk of keeping you here until we can fully heal you is acceptable."

"Glad we could be of service." Rodgers said sarcastically.

Later that day Rick and Rodgers went off to have a look around, coming back a few hours later.

"Find anything interesting?" Kate asked.

"They have a really good security system. We didn't even make it out of the house." Rodgers said, frowning.

"We did have a talk with Harrison, though. Since we aren't going to remember anything, he was surprisingly open about things."

"Things?" Becks asked.

The five sat down and listened to Rick. "For one thing, they used some sort of fertility drug on the women, or whatevers. They're all carrying at least quadruplets."

Rodgers nodded angrily. "Yeah. Maybe two hundred human children who'll be second class citizens on this Earth. Our children."

Kate took Rick's hand and Becks took Rodger's. Rodgers went on. "One thing we found out. Harrison and the locals are terrified of Earth One."

All three women frowned. "Why?" Simone asked. "They exterminated a whole planet full of humans. Why fear another Earth?"

"This world had sort of unique circumstances. These humans couldn't believe that the things they built weren't perfectly happy. Anyone who disagreed was branded a crazy conspiracy theorist, until it was too late. Plus the locals didn't have the military technology we do, or that Earth One has. The robots were able to unleash a biological plague that killed all the humans before they could try to fight back. Earth One would be different. They think."

"How?" The three women asked at once.

Rick answered. "They know that Metford and his merry men keep a close eye on anyone trying to come to Earth One. They'd pick up any plague carriers at once. And Earth One has some kind of experience with biological weapons, even if it's just from observing other Earths."

Rodgers went on. "Plus Earth One has a very powerful military. They draw on the resources of a hundred worlds. They don't have to spend billions of dollars developing a stealthy airplane with precision guided munitions. They just let someone else do the work and then they steal it. Apparently they're very good at that. So, the locals feel that any war between them and Earth One would end in their defeat."

That gave them all something to think about.

That night, Rodgers pulled Becks close to him when they got into bed. He whispered in her ear. "I wrote some notes about this place on a piece of paper and folded it all up." He slipped her the paper. "When we make love, push it up my ass."

They arrived back on the Moon, nearly frozen and complaining about the awful cold. They did report the successful rescue of another Alexis Castle, but not the one they had been looking for.

That night, Rick dreamed of making love to four different Kates at once. He never mentioned it to anyone and never had the dream again. He soon forgot about it.

Rodgers remembered nothing of the trip and never found the note. The robots did have a very good security system.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10, Alexis's in Wonderland

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Still don't own Castle. Rating: K Time: After Four of a Kind.

 **Chapter 10: Bad Kate.**

"Horses! Freaking horses? They want us to ride horses?" Rodgers said loudly.

"I think that's why they have five of them standing there, lover." Becks said softly.

Rodgers shook his head slowly. "Horses."

"Can you ride?" Castle asked.

"I don't know. I never tried. Can you?"

"Oh, Castle is a great rider of police horses." Kate teased.

"The three of us can ride. Can you ride, Becks?" Simone said.

"I rode as a little girl, but I haven't been on a horse in years."

"It's like riding a bicycle." Castle assured her. "It'll all come back to you."

"Except a bike doesn't have a mind of its own." Becks said.

"And for rifles, they gave us Spanish hornets." Rodgers ran his hands over the rifle he'd been issued, working the action, examining the rifle. All of them had the same rifle.

"The Spanish hornet?" Kate asked.

"Spanish Mauser rifle in 7 millimeter, Model 1893. US troops ran across it in the Spanish-American war. The sound of the bullets whizzing by them sounded like hornets. It's a very good rifle for its day. Still a good rifle, for a bolt action rifle."

"And we have US Army .45s."Rick added.

"Colt Model 1911A1s. Another damned good weapon in its day, that's still pretty good today. Some special ops troops carried them in the Sandbox and A-Stan."

"We're ready to go. Do you want to mount up?" A technician called to them.

Rodgers slid his rifle into the scabbard hanging from his saddle and clumsily mounted.

Castle looked over at his wife and couldn't suppress a grin. He got a glare from Kate in return. The latest piece of technology that Metford had given them was a device that gave all of the women the appearance of being bearded. It was only a hologram, but from a distance they would appear to be five men.

There was a flash of blue light and they found themselves in west Texas. An entirely different Texas from the one they knew, however.

As he always did, Rodgers repeated the information they'd received from the virus, just going over the high points. "No one really big change from our word. No meteor devastating Europe, no extensive Black Plague, just a million minor changes that makes everything different. Technologically, they're about in the early 1900s, give or take. And west Texas is…" Rodgers looked out at the miles and miles of bleak countryside, "miles and miles of nothing but miles and miles of Texas."

"There are people ahead." Kate spoke up.

"A stagecoach." Rick said, sounding excited.

"Looks like they need help." Becks said.

As they rode closer, they saw that a wheel had been broken and the men were trying to lever the coach up with a wooden bar to change the wheel.

As they came closer, a man wearing a badge came forward, carrying a shotgun. "We're not carrying strongbox today, boys."

Rodgers smiled. "If we were planning to rob you, we'd have opened up with our rifles from a couple of hundred yards away, where your shotgun couldn't reach us."

The lawman nodded. "That's true, I guess. Can you give us a hand?"

Rick and Rodgers dismounted. Soon the wheel was replaced.

"Where are you headed?" Rodgers asked.

"Lordsburg, New Mexico Territory. And you?"

"Starbuck, Texas." Rick replied.

The lawman nodded. "Due west of here." He looked at the position of the sun. "I doubt you'll make it there tonight. Easy to get lost in the desert. We're headed off north. I'm Marshall Curly Wilcox."

Rick nodded and held out his hand. "I'm Pike Bishop, and this is my pardner, Deke Thornton." He pointed to Rodgers. Then jerked his thumb at the three women, still disguised with holographic beards, behind him. "That's Lyle and Tector Gorch, and Dutch Engstrom."

Curly turned around and pointed out his people. "Buck, our driver. Then Ringo, Doc Boone, Hatfield, Mr. Gatewood. The ladies are Mrs. Mallory and Miss Dallas."

Rick and Rodgers mounted their horses and watched the stagecoach drive off.

"Castle!" Kate said sharply. "Did you have to introduce us as the cast of the _Wild Bunch_?"

"Next time I'll introduce you as Butch Cassidy. You can be butch, can't you?"

Even though he couldn't see her, Rick knew Kate was glaring at him. He shook his head. "Still, there was something about that stagecoach."

"Yeah." Becks replied. "No air conditioning and no suspension."

The marshal had been right, night fell quickly. They found a stream that was probably a tributary of the Rio Grande and camped for the night. By late morning, the next day, they were on a low hillside looking down at Starbuck, Texas.

Rodgers was looking at the town through field glasses. "Not much there. A couple of muddy streets and a lot of ramshackle buildings. There is a two story brick building and the sign says…Yes! Hotel. We can make that our headquarters to search for Alexis."

They then rode into town and headed for the hotel. As they passed a weathered clapboard church, the doors opened and the congregation poured out. Castle turned in his saddle and saw a band forming up in front of the group. Two men unfurled a banner that read: West Texas Temperance League. The band started an off key rendition of _Shall We Gather at the River?_ The marchers joined in singing.

"I'll bet they're headed for that saloon across from the hotel." Rodgers said. "We should stay ahead of them and be in the hotel before they start smashing whiskey bottles or something."

They tied their horses in front of the hotel and were unloading their gear when Castle saw her. "This is our lucky day. There's Alexis, across the street."

Although she was dressed in the long skirt that was common on this Earth, there was no doubt that it was Alexis. Just as Castle was about to cross the street, the marchers caught up with them and he was cut off.

"Hey!" Called Simone, the only one still mounted. "We not only have an Alexis, there's another Kate Beckett over there. And she waved at Alexis."

This Kate was dressed more like a cowboy: Boots and spurs, jeans with leather chaps, a plaid shirt, leather vest and a Stetson.

The others remounted to take a look. What happened next shocked them.

The other Kate walked up behind a man who was watching the parade and said something to him. As he turned, she shot him in the groin. He staggered backwards and fell on his back. She then shot him in the head. As she did that, Alexis pulled a pump action shotgun out from the folds of her skirt and began firing. The marchers ran screaming in all directions.

The other Kate was now on horseback and yelled out Alexis' name. She had another horse for the redhead. Alexis ran to the horse and mounted. In seconds, the two women had disappeared down an alley.

The street was filled with panicked people, running, screaming and getting in each other's way. Rick pushed his way through the crowd to the man who had been shot. The pudgy man in a cheap suit was dead. Shot through the head. Rick felt sick.

"The other one's okay." Becks said. "He just got pistol whipped." Rick looked over at her. She was helping a burly cowboy to his feet.

"Get back on the horse." He whispered to Kate. "We can't have anyone notice how much you look like a local cold blooded killer." Rodgers heard Rick, grabbed Becks and got her on her horse. Simone followed the other two.

"What the hell's going on here?" The speaker was a tall, rail thin, grey bearded man, leaning heavily on a cane. On his breast was a silver star.

"She escaped, Sheriff." A portly man said. "She killed poor Sloat over there and pistol whipped Jim Lane."

"Worse than that." Said another man, coming out of the sheriff's office. "Deputy Demming is dead. She killed him. Her and that red headed hellcat with her, La Rojita."

"What happened here?" The sound of the familiar female voice shocked both Rick and Kate. They turned in their saddles to see Kelly Nieman approaching.

"The two women escaped. Ma'am." The sheriff said stiffly. "Killed Tom Demming and Mr. Sloat. Got clean away. Luckily, for all the shooting, no one else was shot."

"What are you standing there for? Get a posse ready."Nieman demanded.

The sheriff shook his head. "Ma'am, with my leg and stove in ribs, I can't lead a posse nowhere."

Kelly Nieman looked at the people who had crowded around the sheriff's office. "I put up a reward of a thousand dollars for her the last time. The same now. A thousand dollars in gold. Who will go after her?"

The crowd looked away and shifted their feet.

"Doctor Tyson." A young man finally spoke up. "There were twelve of us then, with the sheriff and Deputy Demming, and she managed to kill four of us. My cousin Andy may never use his arm again from where she shot him. We ain't pistoleros or shootists. We can't go up against the K-Becks Kid. It'd be plumb suicidal." The crowd murmured in agreement.

Doctor Tyson's face was turning purple with rage. "You gutless cowards. She murdered my husband in cold blood, and near a dozen more. Are you just going to let her get away with that? A thousand dollars, people."

"We'll go ma'am." The words came from one of four shabby looking men standing in front of the saloon.

The sheriff laughed bitterly. "Saloon trash? They'd need horses, weapons, supplies and they'd just head for the next town, sell it all and drink. Save your money, Mrs. Tyson."

Rick and Rodgers exchanged glances. Rodgers spoke. "We might help, if someone can tell is what's going on here."

Kelly Nieman, apparently Mrs. Tyson now, smiled at them, which Rick found very creepy.

The sheriff turned to them. "The Becketts ran a ranch some twenty miles out of town. Jim, Johanna and their daughter, Kate Beckett. We all thought they were honest people, but we now know they were in cahoots with some Mexican cattle rustlers. Anyway, something went wrong and the rustlers killed Jim and Johanna."

Mrs. Tyson took over. "Kate tried to run the ranch, but one young girl? She couldn't manage. She came to town to ask my husband for a loan from his bank. My husband was a good man, but he just couldn't see loaning her the money. He turned her down. A week later she came into town and killed my Jerry in cold blood. She's killed other good men since then. Now they call her the K-Becks Kid. Somehow she hooked up with that crazy redhead, the one they call La Rojita. Little Red."

Rodgers nodded and looked at the other four, who nodded back. "We'll go after the two. Any idea where they're headed?"

"Agua Verde, across the border in Mexico." The sheriff said. "The Mexican officials won't do a damned thing about the Kid and those like her. I got a map inside. I'll get it for you."

Rodgers turned to Mrs. Tyson. "Is there a store in town? We could use a few things."

"Miller's Emporium, sir." A smiling man pushed his way through the crowd. "Francis Miller, your servant, sir. I assure you that I have everything you might require at prices that are so low…."

Rodgers cut off the sales pitch. "You have any Mauser 7 millimeter ammunition?"

Miller scratched his head. "I don't believe we have any cartridges like that, sir."

"Government Colt ammo?" Rodgers tapped the pistol at his side.

"Yes, sir. We have that. Anything else?"

"Some food."

"Mr. Miller, give them what they need and send the bill to me." Mrs. Tyson said.

A half an hour later they were headed towards Mexico in search of the K-Becks Kid and her red headed hellcat friend.

Rick was miserable. "I've finally found an evil Kate Beckett." He turned to his Kate. "I don't know if I could shoot her."

Kate smiled at her husband. "We'll manage. We always do."

Simone then spoke. "Some odd things, though. I took a quick look in the sheriff's office. Demming was in the only cell, with his pants down around his ankles and his underwear stuffed in his mouth. From the looks of his underwear, that should have been enough to kill him. There was one set of handcuffs on the floor and one set cuffing Demming's hands behind him. He'd been hit on the head pretty hard, which I guess knocked him out." Simone looked around. "He'd been castrated, and from the amount of blood he was alive when they did it. From the look on his face, they waited until he was conscious, so he'd know who did it."

"Does that mean…" Rick began and then stopped.

"I'll bet that Demming was putting them in handcuffs and intended to rape one or both of them. I don't know why else his pants would be down."

Rodgers nodded. "I'll bet he tried to cuff them so they couldn't fight, then one of them bashed his head with the cuffs. Gutless prick."

"Just because he was going to rape them, doesn't mean the Kid isn't a cold blooded killer. We know she is. And maybe they pulled his pants down to humiliate him." Becks said.

Simone nodded. "She shot that man in the balls and only then in the head. And she only pistol whipped that cowboy who was bigger that the man she shot. Why not shoot both?"

Becks shrugged. "Who knows? But our job is to rescue Alexis. This Earth can worry about the Kid unless we have to do something about her."

"But we have something to think about now." Rick said.

They had to think sooner than Rick had imagined. They camped for the night in a small canyon filled with brush and cactus. Later that night, Rick felt the need to pee and pushed through the brush to get some privacy. He pushed aside a large bush and came face to face with Alexis.

He raised his hands away from his pistol. "Alexis, I'm not you father. I just want to talk to…"

Her boot slammed into his crotch and he doubled over in pain. He saw her swing the barrel of the shotgun at his head, but was in too much pain to get out of the way. He fell to the ground.

"Of course you're not my dad, asshole. He's been dead for years." He heard her work the pump action of the shotgun.

"Alexis. Don't. I don't want you to become a killer like I am." That was Kate's voice.

"They're bounty hunters. After everything they did to you, you want me to leave him alive?"

"Yes. I've tried not to kill anyone who didn't deserve it, but even so, I know I'm going to Hell when I die. I don't want you there with me. Get the horses. We're leaving."

Alexis glared at him, and left.

"Kate." All Rick could manage was a whisper.

"You know who I am, then. It would be best if you forgot about me." She turned and was gone.

"Castle? Where are you?" Kate's voice called from behind him.

He managed to make a noise and she found him, called the others and they dragged him back to their camp. Castle told them what had happened.

"She didn't want Alexis to be a killer like she is." Becks was counting off the important points on her fingers. "She said she tried to kill only those who deserve it, but she still thinks she's going to Hell for her sins. And she left Castle alive."

Castle added, "And Alexis said something about all _they'd_ done to her? Who the hell are they? And what did they do to her?"

""They"? Why, they is the plain and fancy they, that's who "they" is." Rodgers quoted.

No one had any ideas.

"We have more to think about." Castle said as he curled up with Kate and went to sleep.

They crossed the Rio Grande into Mexico, and a day after that, rode into Agua Verde as the sun was going down. A young boy called to them. "You wish a place to stay with clean beds, senors? Good food? Friendly women?"

Castle pulled a gold piece from his pocket and held it up for the boy to see. "How much does the place you're shilling for pay you?"

The boy laughed. "Ten centavos for every person I send."

"Tell me where the real best place for clean beds and good food is and this is yours."

The boy pointed. "Eduardo's, opposite the church in the square, senor."

Castle threw him the coin.

"Gracias, senor. And if you need anything else, just ask. I am Emiliano."

Rodgers held up another gold coin. "Any other Americanos in town?"

"Si, senor. Lots. A couple of dozen. Perhaps more."

"Any law in town?"

"The Rurales, senor. But, if you have money to spend and cause no trouble, they will not bother you. Everyone knows of this."

Rodgers tossed him the coin.

Eduardo's turned out to have a stable in back where they left their horses and tack, took their weapons and gear and went into Eduardo's to get some rooms. As they walked in, Kate looked into the cantina. "Look who's here."

There was the K-Becks Kid and Alexis, eating dinner at a table against a set of glass doors.

"We might as well start now." She said.

"Hold on." Rodgers said. "Those fellows in grey uniforms? They're Rurales, Mexican mounted police." Rodgers pointed to a table with a dozen or so armed, grey clad men eating dinner.

"Emiliano said they'd cause no trouble."

"As long as we don't cause trouble. If we get into a gunfight with the Kid, they'll sure as hell get involved. Let's wait."

As it turned out, they didn't have long to wait. A young woman came to the Rurales' table and whispered to an older man with a well-trimmed Imperial beard. The Rurales stood and left quietly.

Castle started to go into the cantina, but Rodgers held him back. "Let them get a little farther away."

Castle remained standing where he could keep an eye on the Kid and Alexis.

The glass door behind the two women opened suddenly and a man entered, pointing a gun at the Kid's head. "Don't move, chica." He bent down and reached around to disarm the two women.

"What the hell do you want, Javier?" The Kid asked angrily.

"Mrs. Tyson wants me to finish the job I began at your ranch."

"You killed my parents and the Tysons were behind it?"

"Of course. Your father was beginning to figure out who was really behind my little rustling gang. The Tysons are very ambitious. You are a very stupid woman not to have figured that out. Now, I have no orders concerning La Rojita here, so come with me quietly and I will kill you quickly but she will live."

With a hat over his eyes and a beard, Castle hadn't recognized the man until the Kid said his name. Castle realized he had run into another Javier Esposito.

"Just stay here, Alexis." The Kid said. "You'll be fine. But you run as soon as I'm gone."

Javier stood up just as Castle drew his pistol and fired one round into Javier's forehead. "Every damned time I meet another Esposito, I kill him." Castle muttered. He turned to the women. "Turn off the beards. I want the Kid to see the real yous."

The Kid was reaching for her pistol when she saw Rick. Her eyes widened when she saw duplicates of herself with him.

"What the hell…?"

"I don't want to hurt you. In fact, we all want to help you two. If it'll make you feel any safer, go ahead and pick up your weapons."

Both the Kid and Alexis carefully picked their pistols up off the floor where they had fallen from Javier's hands. Castle noticed that three ragged little boys, including Emiliano, we're busy stripping everything from Javier's body that he had.

The Kid put her pistols back in their holsters. "I guess if you wanted to kill me, I'd be dead." Alexis, however, kept her revolver in her hand, looking suspiciously around her.

"Let me tell you why we're here. It'll sound impossible, but it's true." Castle went on to tell the Kid about the alternate Earths and their mission to rescue the Alexis's.

"You mean what Alexis has told me is true? Flying machines carrying hundreds of people? Machines that show moving pictures in your home? The giant cities? Everything?"

"Everything, and more. Look, we can take Alexis home and get you to a safe place. Somewhere where you won't be an outlaw anymore."

To his surprise both women shook their heads.

"I'm not going back to my bitch mother. Ever." Alexis looked at Rick. "You do look like the photos of my dad, but you're older. Why did you ever marry Meredith? Did you marry a Meredith in your world?"

He smiled at her. "It was a dumb mistake, but it brought me my Alexis, the greatest joy in my life until I met Kate and she became my wife."

"Can I go with you, then?" Alexis asked.

"I'll have to talk to some people, but we'll get you somewhere." He turned to the Kid. "Please, come with us. You're not a bad person. You can change."

The Kid shook her head. "When my parents were murdered, I tried to go on without them, but it was too much. I went to see Mr. Tyson at the bank. I thought he was a good man. He told me he'd help if I'd…do things for him. Things only a married woman can do. I was shocked and said I couldn't. But he tore my clothes off and…raped me. Then he called Mr. Bryant, the teller and Joseph Brand, a customer and friend of his. And Deputy Demming and…others. Fifteen men all together." By this time tears were pouring down the Kid's face. "They did things to me that I didn't know a man could do to a woman. They made me say things. That I liked what they did. They made me beg them to do it again, and then they did those things again. And when they were done, they threw me out of the bank, stark naked. Luckily, it was nighttime. I rode back to the ranch and stayed there for a week, crying. Then one night, I rode back into town with Daddy's revolver. I shot Tyson as he walked home. Since then, I've killed all but two of the men who raped me. I have to kill those two."

"What will you do when you gave your revenge?" Kate asked.

"What?" The Kid said, surprised. "I don't know. I never thought about it."

Both Kate and Becks nodded. "We were alike in many ways." The two women told the Kid about how their mothers had been murdered at the orders of a corrupt senator. And how Kate had brought the Bracken in her world to justice while Becks had murdered the Bracken in her world.

"I was sentenced to life in prison with no parole. But I was pulled out of there to help the Alexis's, and I found a man that I'll love always. Just as Kate found her husband. You'd be giving up the chance of being a good person again just to kill two people. Is it worth it?"

The Kid stared at the table. "I lost both my parents. I was raped. How do you expect me to…"

The rest was cut off by a gunshot coming through the window. Everyone hit the floor.

"Get to the lobby." Rodgers screamed. "Get the rifles and ammo. And shoot the damned lights out."

Rick and Kate crawled to the lobby and brought back the rifles. The rest of them were occasionally firing out the window at their attackers. In the dark, they could see very little outside.

"Kid!" Someone outside screamed. "There are five of us and only two of you. You come out and you'll get a fair trial."

"Five of them?" Rodgers said with a smile.

"I can see a bush moving against the wind." The Kid said.

"Everyone shoot at it at once?" Becks suggested.

The Kid pointed out the bush and on the count of three, they all fired an entire five round magazine into the bush. There was a brief scream and then nothing.

They could hear men running and then the sound of horses. They waited until dawn, but the men were long gone. They hadn't seen the Rurales the whole time.

"I can go to a place like Alexis is from?" The Kid asked.

"I have money. I'm rich. I can make sure you're well taken care of. You and Alexis can go to the same Earth maybe."

"Why are you doing this?" She asked Castle.

Kate answered. "Because all Richard Castles love all Kate Becketts.

The Kid shook her head. "That's so…odd."

Castle laughed. "You think that's odd? You ain't seen nothing yet."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11, Alexis's in Wonderland

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: I do not even own a tiny bit of Castle. Rating: M, in places. Time: After Four of a Kind, in our canon near future.

 **Zombie Apocalypse, Not**

 **Author's note: When I wrote this chapter, I had no idea that I would post it on Halloween. Kind of a spooky coincidence.**

Katherine Beckett, AKA, the K-Becks Kid, sat next to Alexis Castle, AKA, La Rojita, in front of Mr. Metford's desk. If Mr. Metford was known as anything but Mr. Metford, no one knew it, although Rick Castle had called him a few things. To the right of the Kid and La Rojita were Rick Castle and Katherine Beckett, AKA, Mrs. Castle. Next to them was Simone Renoir, once known as Kathleen Beckett. To the left of the Kid and La Rojita were Richard Rodgers and Katherine Beckett, AKA, Becks. Metford was busy reviewing a thick file.

Without looking up, he spoke. "Mr. Castle, is it your intention to move people around from one alternate universe to another, just willy nilly?"

"I wouldn't dream of moving anyone around for no purpose, sir." Castle was obviously on his very best behavior.

"You apparently have a friend in high places." Metford said drily.

"You mean Meredith?" Castle looked surprised. "Um, that is, Judge Meredith McDonald?"

"That's of no concern of yours, Mr. Castle. However, your request has been approved. Miss Katherine Beckett, AKA, the K-Becks Kid and Miss Alexis Castle, AKA, La Rojita will be resettled on an Earth similar to the one Miss Castle is from. In Los Angeles, in fact." He smiled coldly at Castle. "This will cost you a great deal of money, Mr. Castle. We'll have some papers for you to sign later."

Castle nodded and smiled.

"Will there be a Richard Castle on this world? Or a Kate Beckett?" The Kid asked.

Metford shook his head. "On the day that this Mr. Castle was conceived on his Earth, Martha Rodgers was in LA, doing a film. The man known to Mr. Castle as Jackson Hunt never met her. She married a director named James Prince. They live in LA with their three daughters. As for Katherine Beckett, she does not exist on your new world. Johanna and Jim Beckett have a son, Kurt, who's a lawyer."

"Is my mom still alive on that Earth?" Mrs. Castle asked.

Metford glared at her. "She is."

"She never took the Pulgatti case?"

"There was no Pulgatti case. Bob Arman and Joe Pulgatti were both shot to death at the same time. The FBI put it down to a hit by a rival family, based mainly on evidence provided by Detective John Raglan. You might also wish to know that a rising ADA named William Bracken was murdered about a month later. The officers first on the scene were Gary McAllister and Roy Montgomery. It was decided that it was a mugging gone wrong. Raglan, McAllister and Montgomery are now all retired and doing quite well financially. Quite well indeed for retired police officers."

"Is there anything else you people would like to take my time up with?" Metford asked sarcastically.

"Yes." Becks said. "These two need clothing. They can't go to LA looking like extras from a Clint Eastwood western."

"Miss Beckett, we are perfectly capable of providing clothing for these two."

Becks snorted. "Bullshit. They need clothing with a woman's touch. And the touch of women from a similar culture. The techs have advised us that there's a shopping mall here on the Moon. We need to take K-Becks and Alexis shopping."

"Shopping on the Moon?" Castle said, brightening. "Do they sell souvenirs? Tee shirts? Moon rocks? I'd love to have a moon rock. Or maybe…" Castle stopped when he saw the look on Metford's face.

"You two can wait in the bar while the ladies shop." Metford said. "And wait only in the bar. Understand?"

Four hours later, Rick and Rodgers were sitting in a bar cut into the wall of a small crater, covering perhaps two hundred acres. The crater itself had been roofed over, holding the air in. The roof was clear and Castle was enjoying a delightful Earth rise. The floor of the crater was covered in an open air market, with shops and stalls sprawling up the crater's walls. The women had disappeared into the shopping mall, leaving the men to wait and drink.

Rick sipped his Scotch slowly. "I wish I could tell my poker buddies about this. Drinking Scotch in a bar on the Moon? Patterson and Connelly would be so…."

"Here they come." Rodgers broke in.

Rick caught sight of two Kates wearing dresses that were identical except for the color. The Kate with the wedding ring wore a blue silk dress that came to just above her knees, showing off her gorgeous legs. The other Kate wore the same dress in red. Behind them were Becks, in a skirt and blouse combination that showed her cleavage nicely. Last was Alexis, in a dress that Rick considered to be too short, too tight, and too low cut. He sighed. She'd wear it anyway.

Rick rose from his chair and put his arms around the Kate in the red dress and kissed her soundly.

"Rick! How did you know it was me?" His wife asked.

"I'm afraid the Kid looks too self-conscious in her new clothes. I doubt that she's ever worn anything so revealing."

The Kid blushed, while taking off the wedding ring and handing it back to Kate. "Do respectable women really wear clothes like this. And do women wear those…"

"Bikinis?" Becks finished for her. "Absolutely. And you'll knock 'em dead where you're going."

"We'll knock 'em dead." Alexis added.

Rick opened his mouth to suggest that Alexis should wear something like a muumuu, or perhaps a _burqa_. But, seeing Kate's glare, he said nothing.

They walked back to Metford's office and from there went to the red square where the two women would be transferred to their new home. After a brief and tearful farewell, they were gone.

"Now, "Metford said with a smile, "we can get to work. We'll give you your virus to implant the information you'll need for your next Earth, and then you need to see something."

Several hours later they stood in front of three rooms that looked like a cross between an operating theater and a cell. One person was in each room, strapped to a hospital bed. The first was a tall, emaciated, dark haired young woman, nearly naked, whose body was covered with filth, sores and scabs. Her hark hair was matted and unkempt. In the cell next to her was a Hispanic male, equally filthy and covered in injuries, he was beginning to scream and pull against his restraints. His only clothing was what appeared to be badly torn camouflage pants. The last was a blonde woman, tall, filthy and completely naked. She was screaming obscenities.

"A real zombie apocalypse?" Castle said softly.

Metford shook his head. "No, Mr. Castle, these three are very much alive. They are not zombies."

As he always did, Rodgers went over the information they'd gotten from the virus. "Four years ago on their Earth, something went very badly wrong in a medical research lab in Milan, Italy. They were trying to beef up the human immune system, but accidentally created something that turned the infected into paranoid killers. Ninety percent of the human race was infected."

"The population dropped from seven billion to seven hundred million?" Castle said.

"Less than that. The infected killed both the infected and the immunes. Plus when society collapsed, people died from lack of medical care, transportation fell apart, so food couldn't get from farms to the cities, assuming anyone was left to farm. There are probably only a few million immunes on Earth now. And there are still a lot of infecteds. "

Metford broke in. "We hope to change that. Observe."

Two men in bomb disposal suits entered the brunette's cell and sprayed her with something. She collapsed at once. The same thing happened to the other two people.

"When we found out that an Alexis Castle had been taken to this planet, we sent an automated search team in. We found the lab in Italy and discovered what they had done and even found an antidote and a vaccine. The scientists had been murdered before they were able to make enough of it. We've located a group of some thirty survivors holed up in New York City. We believe that Alexis Castle's kidnappers didn't know of the plague. They and Miss Castle may already be infected. So, you will offer the immunes the antidote and vaccine in return for helping to track Alexis down." Metford gestured to the three people now sleeping peacefully in the cells. "We'll show you how they are in twelve hours."

After breakfast the next day, they did go to see the three infecteds, who were now immunes. The brunette was dressed in a hospital gown and was being treated by medical personnel. She was also crying.

"Can you tell these people who you are?" A doctor asked.

The woman looked up at them. "I'm Sarah Black. I am…was a student at Hudson. Student athlete, basketball, soccer and rugby. I don't know why, all of a sudden I was filled with rage….I grabbed fire axe and….I killed a stranger. I don't know why." She began sobbing.

The man was just staring ahead.

"Can you tell us about yourself?" A nurse asked.

"Specialist James Reynoso, Second of the Eighty-Seventh, Tenth Mountain Division, Ft. Drum, New York."

"What was your MOS, soldier?" Rodgers asked.

"Eleven Bravo, sir."

"Don't call me sir, soldier, I work for a living. What happened to you?" In an aside to the rest, "He's an infantryman."

The man shrugged. "We were deployed to New York City. All hell had broken loose there. People were killing each other. I never seen anything like it. We were in full MOPP…"

Rodgers broke in. "Mission oriented protective posture. It means he had on his full protective gear for chemical or biological warfare: Gas mask, protective suit, the works."

"MOPP gear didn't do a fucking thing. All of a sudden, I just hated everybody. I started shooting and…I didn't stop."

The blonde was Helena Carter. "Personal trainer and mixed martial arts wannabe. I was in the gym and all of a sudden this woman goes crazy, starts bashing people with weights. Then another one started. I ran outside, but people were going crazy. I grabbed a gun from a dead cop and ran to my apartment. Then, something happened. I left my apartment and began killing."

A doctor talked to Castle and his friends. "Most of the surviving infected are like these three. Strong, smart and used to violence in some manner. The young, the old, the weak and the stupid are all dead."

"How come they haven't over run the immunes? How could thirty people hold off ten times their number?" Simone asked.

"The infecteds want to kill everyone, immune or infected. They don't, they can't, cooperate."

"How do we keep from getting killed?" Castle asked.

"Let me show you." Metford said.

Rodgers stood and admired the vehicle. "An M2 Bradley fighting vehicle. Outstanding!"

"A tank?" Castle asked.

"Not a tank, an infantry fighting vehicle. It's got a 25mm gun, TOW anti-tank missiles and a coaxial machine gun. And it carries six infantrymen in the back." Then Rodgers noticed the vehicle was pulling an armored trailer. "What's the trailer for?"

"That's carrying the antidote and vaccines." Metford replied. "There wasn't enough room inside for all we're sending."

"When do we leave?"

"When the other three are ready to go back. They want to go back to their Earth and try to save the human race."

"How long?" Becks asked.

"A week or so. They're sick, injured and have lost a lot of weight."

"Could we go to the shopping mall?" Castle asked, hopefully. Metford just glared at him.

A week later they were driving through the streets of Manhattan and Castle was till complaining. "Really? A couple of days at a lousy mall, on the Moon? I mean, according to the techs, it isn't even a very big one."

"Keep an eye out." Rodgers said over the intercom. Rodgers commanded the vehicle with Becks as his gunner and Reynoso as driver. The rest were jammed into the back of the Bradley.

"Oh, shit." Castle said. "Someone's following us." Castle put on his gas mask and grabbed his weapon. "How the hell do I end up with a squirt gun for a weapon?"

"It's not a squirt gun, lover." Kate said, also in her gas mask, but carrying an M 16 rifle. "Stop now, Rodgers."

The Bradley stopped and the rear ramp dropped. An infected ran at them with a fire ax raised over his head, screaming. When he was twenty feet away, Castle fired his "squirt gun". A powerful aerosol of both the antidote and a powerful knock out drug was sprayed into the infected's face. He took two more steps and collapsed.

Castle and Beckett dismounted, disarmed the man and cuffed his hands behind his back. Then they tied him to the top of the vehicle. "After all that, I sure as hell hope no one kills him."

"Not enough room to put him inside." Kate said, quickly hugging he husband. "Besides, it's only a few more blocks, Lexington between 25th and 26th."

They pulled up in some forty yards in front of the 69th Infantry's Armory. It was a solid building that had been used as the National Guard unit's headquarters since the beginning of the twentieth century. Now, it looked more like a fortress, with the window's sand bagged and concertina wire encircling the building.

"I think they have the barbed wire electrified." Rodgers said. He stood up in the turret. "Hey, inside the armory. We're friendlies. We can help you."

After a few minutes, a uniformed man edged out of a barricaded door. "Who are you?"

Kate's ears pricked up. "I know that voice!" She stuck her head out of the rear hatch. "Royce, it's me Kate Beckett and Richard Castle."

The man walked out a little bit. "Come on out where I can see you."

Rick and Kate exchanged looks. "Let's go." They said together. Rodgers dropped the ramp and they walked towards Royce.

Royce stared at the two of them. "This is impossible. Castle…You're dead. And, Kid, you're inside."

Kate smiled. "There are more of me." She turned back to the vehicle. "Hey, Becks, come out and see our old training officer."

If Kate was a surprise, Becks was a shock. They quickly explained about the alternate universes and their mission.

Royce shook his head. "Alternate universes? If I didn't see two Kates standing here, I'd never believe it."

"Hey, Mike. Where'd we get the company from?" Said a familiar voice.

"Kate?" Rick said.

Another Kate stopped, looked at Rick in shock, then turned and ran away. Rick looked at Mike Royce, who just nodded. Rick ran after her. He found her collapsed and sobbing just inside the armory. He knelt down and put his arms around her.

"You're dead." She moaned. "I saw you. You died in my arms. You're dead."

As best as he could, he explained everything to this Kate. "What happened here, Kate?"

She sat up and looked at him. "Everything went crazy. People were killing each other. LT started shooting in the precinct. We had to shoot him. Espo took me to our loft. He got in a firefight outside, so I went upstairs. Martha was dead. Stabbed to death." Kate began sobbing again. "Rick, it was Alexis. She killed our little girl. Our little Johanna. Stabbed her. And she stabbed you. You wouldn't fight her and she just kept stabbing you. I shot my other daughter. They're both dead, Rick, and you bled out and I lost you. I lost everyone."

Royce knelt down and stroked her hair.

"How did she get here?" Castle asked Royce.

"Esposito dropped her off. He knew a guy in the National Guard. He went off with Ryan looking for Jenny. We never saw them again. It was pretty crazy here for a while. We'd let people in and they'd seem okay, then they'd start to kill. But it's been almost a year and a half since anyone inside has gone crazy."

"How do you survive? How do you eat? Get ammo? Everything?"

"We raided National Guard armories for weapons, ammo and other equipment. There was a ship in the harbor carrying Humanitarian Daily Rations, food a lot like military MREs, to Africa. We have a couple of million rations now. Gasoline, diesel, water, anything else, we loot or trade for. In a city set up for a population of eight million, there's plenty for a few hundred people. And the infecteds are so crazy they can hardly manage a can opener. A lot of them died of starvation."

"Thanks for taking care of Beckett." Castle said, standing up.

"She's not Beckett anymore. She's Mrs. Royce."

Kate stood up and stood by her husband. Castle nodded. "And I'm married to my Kate. But no kids yet."

"So why did you bring an infected to us?" Royce asked.

"We brought him so we could disinfect him. Do you have someplace we can keep him?"

Royce and Kate exchanged glances. "Let me show you." Royce said, leading Castle and his friends deeper into the armory.

"We built some cells here. We'd put new people in to quarantine them. That way, if they turned, they wouldn't kill anyone."

Suddenly there was a scream and an arm shot out of a cell and grabbed at Rick, missing him by inches.

"I couldn't let them kill her. She's all there is of Kate's old life. She's about all she has."

Rick looked at the thing struggling to get at him. "Lanie? That's Lanie."

Royce nodded. "What's left of her."

"I can fix that." Rick fired his aerosol gun into Lanie's face. She collapsed.

By the next day, they had two new immunes in the 69th's armory. In addition to Lanie, they had Jerry Lowndes, a FDNY firefighter from the Fireboat 343. His story was much like others. One minute he was fine, the next he was a killer. And now he was normal.

Using the Bradley, they searched for Alexis, capturing and immunizing over a dozen people. Only one, an outlaw biker, decided not to stay. He left one night with an M16, a Glock, and all the ammo he could carry.

There were other immunes dug in around Manhattan. There was a Coast Guard enclave based on a Sentinel Class cutter whose twenty two man crew had somehow all been immunes. There was a hospital that had been taken over by a street gang, and a group of students that held parts of Hudson University. There were other holdouts in the other boroughs, but Royce's group had had little contact with them. The total number of immunes on Manhattan was only about a hundred.

"We do trade with the puddle pirates and Hudson U." Royce said.

"What do you trade for and with?" Becks asked.

"The Coast Guard is sitting on a huge stock of diesel fuel, gasoline and lubricants. The students have the Hudson U. Medical Center and two actual doctors. We have food."

"What about the gang in the hospital?" Kate asked.

"We've tried to contact them, but they just shoot at us. They're not big on any kind of authority but their own, I guess."

"We need to give them some of the antidotes and vaccines we have." Becks spoke up. "We brought nearly ten thousand doses of each, but there probably aren't that many infecteds left in New York."

Royce contacted the Coasties and the University by radio and told them a Bradley would be coming and explaining why. Rodgers insisted on trying to contact the hospital, but the Bradley got shot at when they approached.

In a week, nearly two dozen infected were turned into immunes. Not all went well. An infected who had come to New York with his wife on their honeymoon remembered that she had been his first victim. He killed himself. Another was found trying to rape another immune. Royce had him shot.

Then, on a trip to the Coast Guard in the Bradley, they got lucky.

"There's one coming up behind us." Castle called out, readying his aerosol gun.

"Hang on." Sarah Black said.

"She's not an infected and I'll bet she isn't from around here."

The Bradley came to a stop and the ramp dropped. Castle, Becks, Kate and Lowndes jumped out. "Stop and put down your weapons." Castle yelled.

"I'm not one of the crazies." She had stopped but hadn't put down her weapon.

"That doesn't mean you won't try to kill us to get our weapons and gear. Now drop your weapons or we leave you here."

The woman dropped an assault rifle, two pistols and a knife. Kate searched her and cuffed her, then they hustled her back to the armory.

They gathered around the woman. "Who are you?" Royce asked.

"I'm Katarina Hoff, a German tourist." She spoke English with just a slight accent.

Royce laughed sarcastically. "There haven't been any tourists here in years, but you still have nail polish on. You also have a protective vest with your name inside of it, a brand new AK-107, the newest version of the AK-47, a new Heckler and Koch 9mm and a beat up Glock, also 9mm. If I were you, I'd stop lying because we have no use for liars here. We'll just send you back out there. Without any weapons, of course."

"They'll kill me!" She protested.

Royce nodded. "Or you'll become one of them."

"You'd never believe me."

"Let me guess. "Castle said. "You come from another Earth. You and some others came here with a redheaded girl called Alexis Castle or maybe Rodgers. How am I doing?"

Katrina nodded. "Correct. This place is nothing like we were told. We were supposed to land in a building all set up for us to hold the girl. But the supplies weren't there. There was…something. He shot one of my partners before we could kill it. We tried to find the people who were supposed to meet us, but all we found were other crazies. Then Konrad started shooting. He killed Ernst before I killed him."

"What happened to the girl?" Castle demanded.

Katarina shrugged. "I don't know. She ran away."

"Do you know where you were?"

"Yes. I can take you there. But, please, let me stay with you."

Royce looked at Castle, Kate, Becks, Rodgers and Simone. They nodded.

"Okay, as long as you stay loyal to us, you stay. Try anything, and you go outside, unarmed."

She nodded. "I will be loyal."

"Okay, we'll vaccinate you so you won't become infected. Then you can show us on a map where Alexis was."

Once vaccinated, Katrina showed them where she had last seen Alexis. "Here. We were walking up the stairs at about the twentieth floor."

"Shit!" Royce said. "The Bank of America Tower? It's fifty-five stories tall, and it has at least one basement as I remember. Twelve hundred feet tall and covers a damned block. Even if Alexis is still in there, she could hide forever."

"If she hears her father, she won't hide and if she's infected, she'll come for me." Castle said.

"Shit." Royce, Kate and Mrs. Royce said together.

The next morning, the Bradley, jammed full with a total of eleven people, pulled up in front of the tower.

Eight left the vehicle, leaving the three person crew. Royce took charge. "We'll string concertina wire at all exits, then we'll go in looking for her." He looked at Castle and Rodgers. "You ready to do this?"

They nodded.

Once inside, Castle and Rodgers went to stairwells at the opposite ends of the building. Rick's team included Kate, Simone and a former Columbia football player. Then he turned on the bullhorn. "Alexis, honey, it's Daddy. It's me, Rick. Where are you?"

Getting no response, they went to the next floor and tried again.

On the fifteenth floor, they got a response, but not one they wanted. Hearing a noise, Castle and Kate went to an office in the middle of the building. "Alexis? Is that you?"

A man erupted out of the office, swinging a baseball bat. The blow glanced off Rick's helmet as Rick shot him with the aerosol gun. Both men went down.

"Castle! Are you okay?"

He nodded and got up. "What the hell do we do with him?"

"Antidote him and drag him to the stairwell. We'll pick him up on the way down."

Two floors later, they made another discovery.

"Someone's here." Kate whispered. "Be careful, Castle. I'm not going to lose you."

Castle looked around. The floor they were on was mostly partitioned into cubicles with offices around the periphery. "There it is again." Castle tried to find something to stand on to see into the cubicles.

"Look out!" Kate screamed. A dog ran past the four of them and was gone.

"Damn." Castle muttered as he looked into the cubicle the dog had been in. "Oh, shit."

"What is it, lover?"

"Bones. From the clothing, they were women. Five or six of them. Probably trying to hide here while their co-workers went insane. Then they were murdered. And then the dog…" He didn't go on.

They were on the thirty-sixth floor when they found something. "Castle!" Simone called. "The soda machine has been broken into. This was done recently, there's still some soda in the bottom of the can."

The crack of a bullet sent them to the floor.

"Alexis?" Castle yelled, but only got more gunfire in response.

Then there was a high pitched scream and Alexis rushed at them, wielding an assault rifle like a club. Castle fired his aerosol gun at her and somehow managed to miss. Alexis jumped onto him, knocking him down and battering him with the weapon.

Kate sprayed her with the antidote and Alexis collapsed.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12, Alexis's in Wonderland

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: There's probably a Walking Dead joke there someplace, I just can't think of it. I don't own Castle. Still. Rating: M, in parts. Time: The near future, after Four of a Kind.

 **Chapter Twelve. Yo, ho, ho, and a bottle of Dramamine.**

 **Author's note: With apologies to Swordwriter.**

Once back at the armory, they had to wait twenty four hours to be disappointed.

"I was kidnapped from LA. My dad and I moved there, just temporarily, while he worked on the script for _Miami Heat._ "

Rick looked at Alexis. "So the Nikki Heat movies were…good?"

Alexis laughed. "Good! They were fantastic. _Heat Wave_ was the second highest grossing movie of the year. The studio couldn't wait to get the next one out. Dad didn't like leaving New York of course, but Mom was able to get a leave of absence from the NYPD, so he was okay with it. And the money for writing the screenplay was…massive."

"Your dad is married to…?" Kate asked. Meredith, Alexis' mom, couldn't possibly have become a New York cop, could she? Although from all she had seen in the alternate universes, anything was possible.

Alexis laughed. "He's married to you. " She frowned. "That is, he married Kate Beckett. I call her Mom, because my real mom is such a total bitch, especially since dad wouldn't insist that she be cast as Nikki Heat. I call Kate Mom because she's the only real mom I've ever had and it pisses Meredith off to no end."

Castle smiled. "Okay, we'll take you back to your home. I'm assuming that Metford will have some sort of cover story for you. I'd advise you to go along with it. Telling people that you were kidnapped, sent to an alternate Earth, became a psychopath and was rescued by two of your dads and two of your moms is a sure way to end up in the rubber room."

"Can I tell Dad about it? He's a huge sci fi geek, you know. "Alexis laughed. "I bet you do know."

Rick just nodded, but Kate laughed.

"Anyway," Alexis went on, "he's been thinking about writing a sci fi book. This might be a good place to start. Everybody likes alternate histories and that sort of thing."

"Not everyone." Becks muttered. "Especially if you have to live through the damned things."

Before they got ready to leave this Earth, Rick stopped to talk with Kate Royce. "You'll be okay now, with the antidote and the vaccines. You, the Coast Guard and the people over at Hudson U. have almost three hundred immunes now. Once you can start organizing Manhattan without the danger of being attacked by psychopaths, things will be better. I just wish I could help you more."

Kate nodded and he could see tears in her eyes. "Thanks. You've done more than I could have ever hoped for." She began to cry. "I love Mike in a way, but the great love of my life was you, Rick Castle."

"And I'm married to Kate Beckett. In fact, a number of us Ricks are married to Kates."

She gave him a quick hug. "Go, please. Before I fall apart completely."

Rick kissed her cheek and left.

Once back on the base on the Moon, Rick and his friends made an interesting discovery.

"I've got a problem." Metford said.

"An infestation of man eating butterflies?" Rick asked.

"Gunslingers wanting to meet you at high noon?" Kate added.

"A world full of crazed killers?" Rodgers guessed.

"Nothing so simple." Metford said sarcastically. "We've tracked the next Alexis to the world she was taken to, but her idiot kidnappers seem to have lost her."

"Lost her?" Rick said, suddenly starting to feel bad. "How do you lose a woman? Where did they lose her? How? Where? Jesus, how bad is this?"

Metford was no help. "I need to do a little work. You'll have a week or so to relax. I suggest you use it."

"If we're going to be relaxing, how about letting us get outside for a change?"

"Outside?" Metford replied. "There's a vacuum outside. This is the Moon."

"No, outside of our rooms. Let us go back to the shopping mall. Or someplace, okay?"

Someplace turned out to be a private home on the Moon that Metford's agency, whatever it was, had access to. Rick, Kate, Simone, Rodgers and Becks walked through their new home for a week.

"Nice." Rick said. "Two stories, four bedrooms and four and a half baths, full kitchen and a nice wet bar. No TV because no one wants us to know what's going on down there on that Earth, but we have books and some movies, plus a swimming pool and an exercise room. And best of all, we have a nice, clear dome over us keeping in the air and heat and giving us a great Earthrise. Since I own property on the Moon, I'll pay very close attention so I can re-create this on our Moon."

Kate just smiled.

By day, they swam and worked out since Rodgers said their muscles would atrophy in the Moon's one sixth gravity and by night the two couples made love. That left Simone feeling alone and left out.

She could hear the occasional moan coming from the two rooms occupied by the lovers. She knew what the other two Kates were enjoying. She remembered the night during their previous adventure that the other three Kates and she had all tried to make love to Rick.

She finished her shower and walked to her bed. A fresh pair of panties and a long tee shirt were on the bed. She pushed them to the floor and lay down on the bed. _I want my own Rick Castle. Like all Kate Becketts, I love the man. But he has his Kate. And Rick Rodgers has his Becks. But I can dream, can't I?_

She spread her legs but began with her boobs. She squeezed them lightly, pushing them in circles on her chest. Her nipples became taut and she began pinching them, lightly at first and then with more force. She moaned slightly and allowed one hand to slide down her body while the other moved from one boob to the other. She lightly ran one finger over her slit, arousing herself and becoming wet in the process. She then pushed on finger inside of herself, but not very deeply. As she became hotter, she pushed the one finger deeper and squeezed her boobs harder. She whispered Rick's name and smiled. One finger became two and she used her thumb to rub her clit. When she pushed three fingers inside of her, she decided to use her other hand to pinch her clit. She hadn't had sex in a long time and had hardly ever had sex with anyone that meant anything to her. Her imaginary sex with Rick was making her hotter and wetter than any time she could remember. Too soon, she felt her orgasm coming on. She thought about stopping and letting herself calm down. _Fuck it._ She thought. _I want this now. I want him now._ Simone began lifting her ass off of the bed as she thrust into herself. She moaned his name as she felt her orgasm wash over her. For a few moments she lay there trying to imagine what it would be like if Rick was really beside her, telling her he loved her. But it wasn't happening. She could hear the moans coming from the other rooms. She got up, briefly washed herself off and went back to bed, her lust and love only partly sated.

Metford had apparently solved his problem. "You're going to Earth."

"Of course we are." Rick said, confused. "We'd sure as hell better not be going to any other planet."

"No." Metford snapped. "You're going to this Earth. The one you're orbiting around now."

"Cool, can we see…"Rick began.

"No. You can't see or do anything."

Metford was as good as his word. They flew from the Moon to an orbiting space station in a shuttle that had no windows. All they saw of the station were blank corridors. The shuttle down to Earth was similarly windowless as was the plane they took. They were taken to a boat in a car with blacked out windows and were only allowed to come on deck when the boat was well at sea.

"At least the oceans are still here." Rick said.

"Maybe it's just a small ocean. There may be a shattered post-apocalyptic landscape just over the horizon." Rodgers added with a smile.

"Complete with radioactive zombies?" Rick asked hopefully.

"The planet is just fine. "Metford barked. "We didn't want you seeing anything you might take back to your Earths."

"What the hell is that?" Becks asked.

Ahead of them was a huge, circular latticed structure floating on the ocean. Inside of it was a sailing ship.

"The lattice structure will move you and your ship to the next Earth. You'll get further details about the ship when we give you your viruses. But, the Earth you're going to is behind yours in technology. That's the ship you'll be going to the next Earth on. It was built by some War of 1812 reenactors. It's a modern copy of the _Chasseur,_ an American privateer of the period. She's a schooner, about four hundred tons and mounts fourteen guns. As I said, it's a modern copy, so she's built from a ceramic matrix and not wood, which means she's stronger than steel, but much lighter. She also has a fuel cell to drive her engine and her electronics, radar and sonar and such. Her original guns were not functional so we replaced them with real ones. Not black powder muzzle loading cannons, but replica period cannons that are actually fifty millimeter breechloaders."

"How about the crew?" Kate asked.

"Mostly they're from our navy, but a few of the reenactors volunteered to provide some technical support. Naturally, our navy has few sailors with experience with large sailing vessels. There are a hundred and two of them."

"That's an awful lot for such a small ship." Rick said. He knew people with sailing yachts that were bigger and with much smaller crews.

"You'll have to man the guns in a fight. Fourteen guns with four gunners each is fifty six people. Plus Marines, armed with weapons that look like they're from 1812, but fire 6 millimeter military rounds from a twelve shot magazine. And you'll need to sail the ship in action. Your gunners and marines are from our military and the reenactors help sail the ship. You'll find you'll need all of your crew."

"What's a chasseur?" Becks asked.

"It's French for hunter, but it used to describe light infantrymen or light cavalry. So, shall we get your virus shots and see your new command?"

"And we need a ship because?" Simone asked.

"Because the Alexis for this planet is apparently on some sort of a warship. Perhaps a pirate vessel."

"Of course she is." Muttered Rick. "She can't be in fucking Disneyland. That would be easy and fun."

Rodgers, as usual, was the commanding officer. Although the crew had been warned not to give any secrets away that might be useful to another Earth, he quickly decided that none of his military crew, although well trained, had been in combat. Apparently there were no combat vets in the local military.

"Ready, Mr. Castle?" Rogers asked of his first lieutenant.

"Ready, sir."

"Lieutenants Kate, Becks and Simone?"

"Ready, sir." They replied.

"Send us to our destination Earth." Rodgers then smiled. "Make it so."

Unless a ship is sailing on an absolutely flat calm sea, it will pitch. That is, the bow will drop and the stern will rise, then the bow will rise and the stern will drop. And that will continue. In addition the ship will yaw; that is roll from side to side. And ships will pitch and yaw at the same time.

Castle quickly discovered this phenomena.

"Are you okay, babe?" Kate asked, worried at how he looked.

"Sure. I'm fine. I've been on ships before." Castle felt his stomach getting queasier. "Mostly on yachts. We'd go out into Long Island Sound, anchor and party. The waters were a lot calmer. And I've been on cruise ships. Really big ones that…"

Castle ran to the rail and threw up over the side. However, he was vomiting into the wind and most of it came back and landed on him.

"Castle!" Kate cried, running to him. "Are you okay?"

He nodded. "I just need to lie down. Just for a bit."

Kate helped him go below decks and put him to bed in their cabin. Then she undressed him and washed him off.

"I'll be okay." He said weakly.

Eventually, Kate went back on deck.

"Is he going to be okay?" Rodgers asked.

"I hope so."

"No one ever died of sea sickness. Although he may feel like he is."

For two days _Chasseur_ sailed through the Caribbean and Rick felt like he was going to die the whole time.

On the morning of the third day, they saw a ship.

"Radar reports a bogey at eighteen thousand yards, almost dead ahead." Chief Brockleman reported to the captain.

Rodgers brought his binoculars up. "Can't see much at this range. But he's coming at us at a good clip. Can you estimate his speed?"

Chief Brockleman replied almost at once. "About twelve knots, sir. Not bad for a sailing ship. And he's headed right for us."

Rodgers nodded. "Okay. Keep us on course. It might be a warship checking us out or it might be a pirate."

When the other ship was about a mile away, Rodgers checked her out. "Shit. She's flying a blood red flag. Which is local pirate speak for "We aren't taking any prisoners today."

"There's something in the rigging." Kate said, trying to focus her binoculars.

"People." Rodgers said. "The bastards have hung people from their yardarms so we'll know what to expect. Fuck it. We're gonna kill 'em all."

"She's bigger than we are." Brockleman said. "Maybe a small frigate? I'd say twenty four or twenty eight guns? About that."

"Furl the sails and get the engine running." We can out sail them on our engines and the sails'll just get in the way." He turned to the drummer who had appeared by his side. "Beat to quarters."

To the drumbeat of _Hearts of Oak_ , the crew poured onto deck to man the guns and up the ratlines to furl the sails.

The other ship, seeing _Chasseur_ furl her sails and still sail on at a good rate of speed, began to veer away rather than closing to the usual range for battles in the age of sail; half pistol shot. As the ships came abreast of each other, Rodgers ordered the guns to open fire. As they did, Kate saw her husband stagger up from below. She ran to him.

"What are you doing here?"

"What I'm supposed to do, having your back. And a gorgeous back it is, too."

"Castle you're too sick to be any help."

As they argued, the other ship opened fire. The range was too great and only half of the cannon balls hit the hull. They all bounced off. The _Chasseur's_ cannons were firing at what for them was point blank range and firing explosive shells.

Rick and Kate did a sort of a dance around the deck, each one trying to put themselves between danger and the other one. Neither was succeeding.

 _Chasseur_ put several shots into the waterline of opponent, opening gaping holes to the sea. Above them, the Marines and sailors poured rifle fire onto the deck of the pirate, clearing the enemy gun crews away.

Simone noticed Rick and Kate and their odd movements. She ran to them. "Here! Get behind the main mast. It's thick enough to stop anything they'll shoot at you." She dragged them to cover, then looked at the pirate ship. "It looks like Captain Rodgers is going to pass close by their stern. Our shells will travel the length of the ship. I doubt that their stern chasers are even manned now."

Rodgers did pass within a few yards of the pirate. "Fire as your guns bear and keep shooting." He commanded.

The first shells blew away part of the stern of the ship so that the next shells didn't explode until they hit something inside the ship. Since most of the crew had fled to the supposed safety below decks, they were massacred. One shell hit the mainmast, shattering it and sending it overboard. Other shells smashed the pirate's guns, dismounting them and sending the guns themselves flying about, crushing anything and anyone in their way.

"Some are jumping overboard." Called a sailor from high in the rigging. "It looks like the ships boats are all shot to bits."

Rodgers smiled coldly. "Good. The bastards can drown or maybe sharks will get them."

"Sir, called the sailor. "I can see some kind of a cage on deck. It has people in it. Women I think. They're screaming for help."

Rodgers ordered a long boat away and soon they were headed back with fifteen young and naked women aboard. The women boarded and stood there, looking around them. Finally one woman stepped forward. She was tall, slender, but well-muscled. Castle would have described her as handsome rather than pretty. "I'll freely submit to your lusts if you leave my daughter alone." Standing behind her was a girl of perhaps twelve, obviously terrified.

Rodgers smiled. "I do believe we can control our lusts. I'm Captain Richard Rodgers, private armed ship _Chasseur_ , hired by a wealthy merchant to find his daughter, Alexis Castle. And you are?"

"Mary Wend. My husband, who's hanging over there, and I owned the brig _Mary_. When we were taken… my daughter was to be sold on the mainland. Girls who are…pure… are in great demand." She said with difficulty.

Rodgers ordered that white duck pants and blue and white striped shirts be given to the women as they told their stories. Not surprisingly, the stories were much the same. The women had been taken either at sea or from small coastal towns for sale elsewhere.

"What can you tell me of the ship I sank?" Rodgers asked.

"Portuguese frigate _Santa Lucia,_ Captain Belo. The Portuguese are too broke to pay their crews, so they're little more than pirates." One woman said.

"They are pirates." Growled another woman.

"Not anymore." Someone said with grim satisfaction.

"The republicans are defeating the royalists all over Brazil. But it will do no good." The speaker was a lithe, dark skinned beauty with what must have been a Portuguese accent. "The republicans are just as vile as the royalists."

Mary Wend had sailed out of a place called Georgetown, Jamaica, which appeared to correspond to Kingston in the world Castle and his friends knew. And, according to the women, many ships called there making it the perfect place to pick up information and land the women.

Rick, Kate, Rodgers, Becks and Simone sat at a well-worn table at the Crown and Anchor, Georgetown's best pub. Rick, for one, thought it was one of the best pubs he had ever been in. Kate noted that he had thrown up so much on the _Chasseur_ that any place on dry land that served food would be heaven to him.

They sat, eating, drinking and listening to the pub's owner, Old Jemmy. He looked like a man who enjoyed a good meal and a drink or twelve after, or before. "A lovely redheaded lass, you say? With blue eyes and a delicate, ladylike complexion? New hereabouts, you say? I know exactly who you mean, sir. Indeed I do. Captain Ashley's your man. The lass is his woman."

"His woman?' Castle broke in. "She's too young to be anyone's woman." Kate kicked him under the table as did Becks. "Or so I've been told." He added lamely. He glared at both women. "You're both kicking me?" He muttered.

Simone smiled at him and kicked his shin as well.

"What can you tell me about this Ashley?" Rodgers asked.

"Captain Ashley commands the _Revenge,_ a schooner not unlike your own, Captain Rodgers, but a wee bit larger. She mounts eighteen guns and has a crew of well over a hundred men. Hard men, sir. Killers all. Although were I in their places, a killer I'd be as well."

"What is their place?" Rodgers asked.

"Captain Ashley's family owned a large farm near the coast in the Carolinas, I believe. They were raided by the Dons, the Spaniards, you know. His family was killed and he and his sister were taken as slaves. Ashley was taken to Hispaniola where he was put to work in the sugar fields. His sister was sold to a plantation owner. She killed herself, she did. Eventually Ashley escaped with a few men and stole a fishing boat. He took over a small Spanish sailing ship and armed her. He's been taking over larger and larger ships and now has a fast, powerful vessel to work his revenge on the Dons."

"Do you know where he is?" Rick asked.

Old Jemmy leaned forward. "You've not heard this from me, but word is that he and two other ships, at least, plan to raid Habana and cut out a Spanish treasure ship. They say he'll use the money to buy a fine frigate and give the King of Spain hell."

"And I can find him where?"

Old Jemmy shrugged. "He was seen sailing through the Windward Passage five days ago, headed for the Atlantic and then Habana, I suppose."

"And taking Alexis with him, too." Rodgers said. "Any idea where he'd go if he's successful?"

The pub owner shrugged. "There are hundreds of islands in this sea. If he survives, he'll sail to one of them to lick his wounds and repair his ship. He'd have to take some damage if he attacks Habana. Where he'd go afterwards especially if he's rich…"Old Jemmy shrugged. "Who knows?"

"We head to Cuba?" Becks asked.

"We head to Cuba."

Time and tide were in their favor. Within an hour they were headed out of Georgetown bound for Havana. The five gathered in the main cabin, looking over a map. The time on shore had done wonders for Castle and his stomach. He now felt merely queasy and no longer like he'd have to get better to die.

Rodgers tapped the map. "Captain Ashley has a five or six day head start on us, at least. If he's smart, and he must be to have lasted this long, he'll hit the Spaniards as soon as he can before they can get wind of his proposed raid. That means he'll probably be headed back from Havana by the time we reach the Atlantic. We could stay in the Windward Passage and let him come to us."

Castle shook his head, which he regretted at once. "He's headed for some small islands to lay low for a while. That could be the Bahamas."

"Or the Turks and Caicos." Kate added.

"And the Florida Keys." Becks said.

"Or even the American mainland." Simone pointed out.

"He could be headed for West Africa, or even Europe if he's now rich." Rodgers said.

The others nodded in agreement.

"So, just head straight for Havana and see what happens?" Rodgers asked.

The rest agreed.

Four days later, the coast of Cuba was off their port bow. The sea was calm, almost completely still, which Rick appreciated. The sun beat down on them from a cloudless sky, and that, with the humidity drenched everyone with sweat. _Chasseur's_ engine drove the ship along at a faster clip than the occasional puffs of wind would have.

"Sir," the radar operator called to Rodgers, "target at nineteen thousand yards. He's headed on our opposite course and would pass us to seaward by several miles on his present course."

"Speed?" Rodgers asked.

After a few seconds he got the reply. "Five knots. Maybe less. There might be some wind away from land that we're not getting."

"Plot an intercept course. We'll go see who he is and maybe he'll know something."

The ship they were closing on had obviously been in a fight. One mast was about a third the height of the other and the hull was riddled with holes. In addition to the sails, the crew was manning sweeps in an attempt to row the ship faster than the wind could move her.

"She's about half our size, maybe less." Becks noted.

"And that's before parts of her were shot off." Castle added.

Rodgers picked up a bullhorn modified to look like an old fashioned speaking trumpet. "What ship?"

"Who the hell are you?" Was the reply from a worn looking officer on the quarterdeck.

"Privateer _Chasseur_. We're looking for Captain Ashley. Do you know where he is?"

The officer waved vaguely behind him. "Back there, if he's still alive and afloat. The bloody Dons want him bad. I'd get the hell out of here, were I you."

"What ships are after him?" Rodgers called,

"All of them." Was the dispirited reply.

Rodgers asked for more details, but the two ships slowly pulled apart without any further communications.

"I guess we'll have to go look for ourselves."

"At least with our engines, we can outrun anything that has to depend on these light winds." Kate said.

It was nearly an hour before they saw the next ship.

"About our size and she's been in a fight. That has to be Ashley's _Revenge_." Rick said. The ship coming towards them had indeed been in a fight. The sails were torn and the rigging was in tatters. While the hull appeared to be mostly sound, they could see most of the crew working frantically to replace the rigging and mend the sails. Only a few sailors bothered to look at Chasseur.

As they passed Revenge on the opposite course, all five looked through binoculars at the quarterdeck of _Revenge_.

"There!" Kate said. "The man in the blue coat. That's got to be Captain Ashely."

"Where the hell is Alexis?" Rick said under his breath.

"Oh, shit." Rodgers exclaimed, also looking through his binoculars.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13, Alexis's in Wonderland

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Still don't own Castle. Rating: M, in places. Time: Set after my story Four of a Kind.

 **Chapter 13. On to Barsoom!**

"Look what's coming after them!" Rodgers pointed past the bow of _Chasseur_.

"Those ships are big." Castle said.

"Damn big."

The sailor in the crow's nest called down. "Sir, the nearer one looks to be a frigate and a pretty big one. Maybe forty guns or so. Following that one is a three decker."

"A three decker has how many guns?" Kate asked.

"Fifty to sixty per side. Worse, they have cannons that can fire sixty to seventy pound cannon balls. Those could do us damage if they got lucky."

"Let's make damned sure they don't get lucky." Rick said, taking Kate's hand.

"What're all the small boats doing in front of the frigate?" Simone asked.

Rodgers peered through his binoculars, then smiled. "Some of them are towing the frigate and the rest are kedging it."

"Kedging?" Castle wondered if his information virus had been complete.

"It's one way to get a sailing ship moving when there's little or no wind. You use a longboat or two to run an anchor out as far as your anchor cable reaches, drop anchor and then you pull the ship up to where the anchor is. Only works in shallow water, obviously."

"So if we shoot up the boats…?

"We can tow _Revenge_ out of danger. I hope." Rodgers turned to the drummer, who anticipating action, took his place near the captain. "Beat to quarters." As the drum rolled, the crew quickly made their way to their duty stations.

Rodgers raised his voice so all could hear him. "We'll shoot up the boats towing the frigate first, then we'll switch to the frigate. Lastly, we'll take a few long range shots at the ship of the line to discourage her."

Using her engines and not her sails, _Chasseur_ bore down on the ship's boats towing the frigate. The boats had begun to retreat to the frigate when they saw a ship with no sails heading for them. They were too late. Fifty millimeter shells and rifle bullets tore into the small boats and their crews, destroying both. _Chasseur_ turned away from the frigate so as to pass her a few hundred yards away; further than the usual range of the frigates smooth bore, muzzle loading cannons, but in easy range of _Chasseur's_ modern weapons.

Some forty rounds fired into the frigate damaged her rigging, hull and weapons as well as starting a small fire. That ship would be out of action for a while.

Rodgers ordered _Chasseur_ to make for the three decker which was now trying to turn and head for safety. By the time _Chasseur_ caught up with the larger Spanish ship, they were both on more or less the same course, with _Chasseur_ about four hundred yards to the landward. As _Chasseur_ opened fire, the Spanish ship fired as well.

A twenty four pound iron ball travelling at several hundred feet per second didn't have the power to punch through _Chasseur's_ modern ceramic matrix hull. Such balls were able to punch through the sails, cut lines and damage other parts of the ship. One ball, however, proved deadly. Striking the muzzle of one of Chasseur's fifty millimeter guns, the force drove the gun backwards and across the deck, killing and wounding crewmen as well as destroying the gun that it hit and anything else in the loose cannon's way.

For a moment, everyone on the quarterdeck stood there in shock. Then Castle and Kate ran towards the wounded. The first three men they came to were beyond help. Kate knelt by a man whose leg was gone just below the knee. Grabbing a length of rope, she fashioned a tourniquet to stop the flow of blood and waited for the ship's doctor.

While she did that, Castle tried to stop the flow of blood from a sailor whose stomach had taken a large iron fragment that had broken off of the Spanish cannon ball. It was no use, his eyes rolled back in his head and he was gone. Castle moved on to the next man.

The remaining gunners doubled their efforts on the ship of the line and were rewarded with a series of fires aboard her. As the sails on the Spaniard began to burn, Rodgers ordered the gun crews to cease fire. In the heat of battle, the crews kept firing until Rodgers and the other officers and petty officers had to drag the gunners from their guns.

"She's finished, one way or another." The captain said loudly. "Now we need to concentrate on our mission. Recovering an Alexis Castle."

 _Chasseur_ turned and again sailed past the Spanish frigate. The fire had been extinguished but in the meantime, the ship's mainmast had fallen and was now hanging over the side held to the ship by the ship's rigging. Neither ship fired as they passed.

Seen up close, _Revenge_ was in worse shape than they had thought. One mast had fallen since they had first seen her and dead crewman littered the deck. What was left of the crew was manning the pumps, trying to keep her afloat. It looked like a lost cause to Rodgers.

"There!" Castle cried, pointing.

Through their binoculars, they could see a slim, redheaded figure at the ship's wheel. It was Alexis. She wore a torn green dress that once had come to her ankles, but now showed most of one leg. Around her slim waist was a red sash, over which was a sword belt holding a rapier. Tucked under the belt was a brace of large pistols.

As _Chasseur_ drew up next to _Revenge_. "Captain Ashley, I presume?" Rodgers called over the few yards that separated the ships.

A bearded, bare chested man stuck his head up. "Who wants to know?"

"Captain Rodgers, _Chasseur_ , privateer out of Baltimore."

"I thought your ship looked familiar. Baltimore clippers stand out from the normal ruck one sees."

"You are Captain Ashley?" Rodgers called back.

"Aye." Ashley smiled. "I am until _Revenge_ sinks under me and I become plain Mr. Ashley."

"Perhaps you and your crew would care to come aboard _Chasseur_?"

"What the devil did you do to those two Spaniards?"

"Kept them from capturing you and hanging you and your crew."

Ashley nodded. "That you did." He turned to Alexis who had moved over to stand by him. "What do you think, love?"

Alexis stared across at the five people gathered on the quarterdeck. "I think that two of my father are standing over there. And I also think that we'll never be able to swim to shore since the current's against us and _Revenge_ won't last much longer. We may as well."

 _Chasseur_ laid alongside of _Revenge_ and what was left of the crew came across on a gangplank. Alexis, at once walked over to Castle and Rodgers. "I didn't know that my father had two identical brothers."

"He doesn't." Rodgers replied. "Perhaps if you and Captain Ashely would come to the great cabin, we could explain."

Ashley an Alexis exchanged a look, then shrugged. "May as well." Ashley said.

Once in the cabin, the five explained who they were, where they were from and why they were looking for Alexis.

Ashely looked around the table in the great cabin at his hosts and then at Alexis. "So all that you told me and more is true, is it?"

Alexis nodded. "I never knew there other Earths out there. Other than this one, this is." Alexis looked off into the distance, considering the possibilities. Then she spoke. "I thank you for your kind offer, but I'll not be returning to my parents."

"Why?" Castle asked, hoping that this Alexis hadn't been abused by them in some way.

"My parents are the most frivolous people imaginable. All they think about is the next party, the next vacation, the next meaningless adventure. I'm sick of them. I have Ash now, and something important to do. Here I am and here I'll stay." She glanced around the room. "I hope you don't intend to try to force me to return."

The five noticed that her hand had dropped below the level of the table to her pistol.

Back on the Moon, Metford was none too happy. "You let her stay there?"

Castle shrugged. "She wasn't the scientist's Alexis. She was happy where she was, so we left her there."

"Where exactly did you leave her?" Metford demanded.

"At Georgetown, Jamaica. We left Ashley with all the gold you had provided us. He'll go back to raiding the Spaniards. Maybe they'll get killed, maybe they'll decided revenge isn't worth it. Both Kate and Becks talked to the two of them about what a search for revenge, or even justice, can do to you." Castle smiled, hoping this was now over. "So, where's the next Alexis? Is she being hidden at a nice luxury resort? Maybe a whole Earth of luxury resorts? Anyplace but the hellholes we've been to?"

Metford smiled. "Oh, she's no place like anyplace any of you have ever been."

That didn't make Castle happy. Nor were the others when Rick told them of his talk with Metford. "At least he told us we have at least another week at our Moon condo. That's something."

"The condemned man gets a hearty meal." Kate said under her breath.

Eight days later, the five were in Metford's office being told where their next Alexis was.

"I'm sorry." Castle said. "I thought you said she was on Mars. I was wrong. Right?"

Metford shook his head and smiled. He was enjoying this. "No, you're headed for the planet Mars."

"Be serious."

"I am serious, Mr. Castle. But it's not the Mars you're familiar with."

"I'm not familiar with any Mars, and I don't want to be. Been there, done that, got the tee shirt." Castle shot back.

Metford ignored him, and waved his hand over his desk. A hologram of the solar system appeared. "This is the solar system as we know it. However, "He waved his and again and another solar system appeared, "this is the alternate Earth solar system you're headed for. The sun is larger and hotter and there are fourteen planets, plus the usual moons, asteroids, and so forth. Earth is the fourth planet and Mars the fifth. And, this Mars is more earthlike, larger, breathable atmosphere, higher gravity and it's in the Goldilocks zone."

"The Goldilocks zone?" Simone asked.

"Not too hot and not too cold." Castle answered her. "It means human life can survive there."

"Precisely, Mr. Castle. And humans have lived on Mars for millennia. Aliens came to this solar system some one hundred thousand years ago, genetically modified some humans and moved them to Mars. They are still capable of interbreeding with earthborn humans, however."

"So Earth has interplanetary spaceships?" Rodgers asked.

Metford shook his head. "No. When the aliens put people on Mars, they put some kind of an instantaneous transfer device at various places on Earth; specifically in the Rocky Mountains, the Alps, the Tien Shan mountains in Central Asia, the Andes, the Mountains of the Moon in Africa, and near Ayres Rock in Australia. Over the millennia, these devices were covered up. About twenty five years ago, the devices in the Rockies, the Alps, and Australia were found within six months of each other. That set off a rush to find the rest. The last, one in the Andes was found about two years ago."

"So, no space ships?" Castle sounded disappointed.

"The highest level of technology is about that of the period 1860 to 1870. In fact, the Earth is much like that period. The US is involved in a civil war, Germany and Italy have become unified nations and want their own colonial empires, the British Empire spans the Earth and is now on Mars, the French are trying to set up an empire in Mexico and on Mars, and other nations are also exploring and colonizing Mars. Except for the US."

"Why not the US?" Kate asked.

"Because of the Civil War. They don't have the resources to expend. However, there is a US Mars colony set up by private individuals called Freeport. That's where you'll be going. You'll be taking a steamboat to sail the canals of Mars."

Now Castle was excited. _Sail the canals of Mars._ He thought. _How cool is that._

The _Kate B._ wasn't the kind of glamorous river boat that Castle had hoped for. She was barely a hundred feet long and was designed to carry cargo mostly, with any passengers sleeping on deck. The main deck was roofed over and a few cabins for the crew added with a pilot house overlooking the bow. The steam engine was a modern reproduction that was more efficient than the ones they'd find on Mars. Although the Martian canals were mostly quite deep, the _Kate B._ was a shallow draft vessel.

Although they'd arrive at the Martian equator at the beginning of summer, their clothing was warm, mostly woolens with a few cotton clothes thrown in. At the women's insistence, dresses were included in their wardrobe, although for the most part, they'd dress in pants, shirts and jackets.

One problem was their weapons.

"How the hell do you load these things?" Kate asked, holding a revolver. "There's no way to get a cartridge into the chambers."

"It's a cap and ball revolver." Castle said, unhelpfully in Kate's opinion.

"Thanks." She said, rolling her eyes.

"On that Earth metal cartridge weapons are in their infancy and you'll find damned few cartridges on Mars." Metford spoke up. "With these, you load loose black powder into the chambers of the revolver, add a bullet on top and put a percussion cap on the nipple at the end of the cylinder. Repeat five more times and your revolver is ready to shoot. However, we've made cartridges of a sort for you. Black powder and a bullet all wrapped up in a paper cartridge. The "paper" is a form of plastic, so it's tougher than the paper you'd find elsewhere and it'll burn completely when fired."

Castle held up his pistol. "I learned all about this when I was going to write that Civil War comedy, Kate. The pistols are mostly Colt model 1860 Army revolvers, .44 caliber, with some .36 caliber Colt 1862 Police models. The police models are smaller so we can carry them as concealed weapons."

"Why do we need four of the Army revolvers apiece?" Rodgers asked.

"They take a long time to load, although you can carry a loaded cylinder with you to reload with. Most Union cavalrymen in the Civil War carried two pistols at least. The Confederates, lacking the breechloading, or repeating carbines the Yankee cavalry had, tried to carry four revolvers." Castle held up a leather vest. "We'll wear two pistols in a shoulder holster type rig on the vest. The vest has pockets for spare cylinders, black powder flasks, bullets and percussion caps. The other two revolvers will be in holsters on our belts."

"If we fall into a canal, we'll sink like a stone." Becks mumbled.

Metford cleared his throat. "In addition, you each have a Sharps .52 caliber breechloading rifle, a .44 caliber Colt revolving rifle and a Baker 12 gauge muzzle loading shotgun. We've also included a stock of muzzle loading rifles and pistols in case you have to arm more crew, or bribe someone. I understand Earth weapons are highly valued on Mars."

"Why do we have to be so well armed?" Becks asked.

"Other European colonies on Mars have soldiers and police, but Freeport has only a town police force paid for by the companies there. Once outside of town, you're on your own." Metford told them. "Normally we wouldn't have a permanent presence on such a backward alternate Earth, but since this is an alternate, inhabitable Mars, we do have people there." He smiled at them. "Ready to go?"

Freeport sat at the junction of two major Martian canals with a third canal joining some six miles to the north. In addition, four minor canals also terminated at Freeport. Immediately across the canal from Freeport was the ancient Martian city of Secate Tholus.

As the _Kate B._ could hardly appear out of nowhere at Freeport, they appeared on Mars some twenty miles up a minor canal that was slowly filling with silt. There was enough water to float _Kate B._ however.

Castle and Rodgers manned the engine and fed the firebox while Simone steered and Kate and Becks kept a lookout.

As they headed for Freeport, Kate was the first one to see Martians. "Coming up on our left." She called out. "A Martian caravan, I think?" Everyone turned to look. There were twenty or so beasts of burden that resembled a cross between a sheep, and a camel with thick legs. Perhaps fifty or so Martians were spread out on foot around the caravan. The Martians paid no attention to the riverboat or its crew.

Another mile or so passed before they saw their next Martian. He was riding towards them on a beast that resembled a very shaggy horse with very long, thin legs. He stopped his mount and fired a shot in the air, then yelled something unintelligible at them. He waved at something behind him and then spurred his mount to a gallop.

"Local greeting?" Castle asked.

"There's someone coming behind him." Becks shouted. "A lot of somebodies and riding hard."

The somebodies were earthmen riding horses. They slowed to a halt and looked at the riverboat. One of the men took a shot at the riverboat, punching a hole in the pilothouse and just missing Simone. The men laughed and rode on towards the caravan.

"I have a bad feeling about them." Rodgers said quietly. "Can we turn, or go in reverse?"

"Reverse would be easier and quicker." Simone called down to him. "More coal, too?"

They backed down the canal until they could see the caravan and the earthmen. The caravan had circled their beasts and were taking cover behind them. The earthmen had dismounted and were sniping at the caravan.

Rodgers watched for a moment. "From the amount of fire coming from the caravan, they have a lot fewer firearms than the other guys."

"You know, those earthmen could be the law and the caravan could be a bunch of smugglers or something." Castle added.

"There are children in the caravan and the earthmen took a shot at us." Kate said, loading her Sharps. "If they're the law, the law around Freeport can't be very good."

"Good point." Castle began loading a Colt rifle.

As _Kate B_ drew parallel to the caravan, the earthmen began shooting at them. That's was all they needed. Kate drew a bead with her Sharps and saw the bullet smack into a horse, the rider ducked. "Damn." She muttered, levering the breech open, pushing a paper cartridge in and slamming the breech closed. She slapped a percussion cap on. She raised the rifle and took aim. Getting her sight picture just right, she squeezed the trigger and was rewarded with the sight of a man spinning around, grabbing his hip and falling.

Meanwhile, Castle had loaded the six cylinders of the Colt rifle. He fired the first two rounds too fast and missed badly. The second and third shots hit near his targets and the fifth knocked one man over. How badly he was hurt, Castle couldn't tell. Then as he was drawing a bead, the bandits broke and ran. He fired his last shot at a man on horseback and thought the man might have lurched in the saddle. In moments, they were gone.

When the firing ceased, the Martians ran out and stripped the dead of their weapons, ammunition and anything else of value. However, when they ran back to the caravan, the caravan stayed put.

"They don't trust us." Rodgers said. "They're worried that we chased those other people off so we can have them for ourselves."

"We should get going." Simone said, pulling out a pocket watch. "I want to get to the major canal before night fall. I don't want to run aground, not with angry bandits around.

They made it to the major canal with a half an hour to spare and anchored in midstream. Even so, they kept watch at night.

The next morning, they arrived at Freeport.

"It looks like something out of a Western movie." Castle said.

Kate nodded. "One of the real gritty ones. Reminds me of _Deadwood._

Freeport straggled along the canal, a ratty collection of tents, wooden shacks, dusty streets, but with crowds of mostly men all hurrying about. They looked at the ancient Martian city across the canal. The city was all red stone buildings, all much larger than anything in Freeport, surrounded by a high, thick wall.

"That's a lot more impressive than Freeport." Rodgers said.

"We're not here to critique the architecture." Castle said. "Metford's people have an office here, we should go see them."

They decided that Rodgers, Castle and Kate should go and that Simone and Becks should stay with the boat. They found that Metford's people had one of the few brick buildings in Freeport. Above the door was a sign: Collier and Grey, Merchants.

When they entered, they discovered that all of the people there were academics who had come to study Mars. They had no real desire to get involved with anything but their own specialties.

They did speak to Mr. Grey. "We have a cargo of Earth foodstuffs for you to take to Martian Mining. That'll give you a cover story. It'd look funny if you came here and left with no cargo. Oh, and we found someone who can help run your boat. He's in the warehouse. You can't miss him."

Indeed they couldn't miss him. He was small, slim and had blue eyes and light hair. And Rick and Kate had seen his face many times before. "You are?" Castle asked.

"Joseph Ryan, your servant, sirs and ma'am." Joseph Ryan wore a green checked suit with a billycock hat perched rakishly on his head. At his belt was a Colt .36 caliber1851 Navy revolver, worn on his left hip with the butt forward.

"You have experience with steam engines?" Rodgers asked.

Ryan nodded. "That I do, sir. I worked for three years on the Ohio Central Railroad, but I hit a conductor who was abusing a lady. I'll not stand for that, sir. And now I'm on Mars."

The three looked at each other. "You're hired Ryan." Castle smiled. "Not that we have much choice. You're all that's available."

"About that, sir. If you'll be allowing me, you'll need more men. I know two. One is right here in the warehouse." Ryan turned around. "Tsena, come over here."

Tsena was a Martian, the first they had ever seen up close. He was tall and slender as was all his race, but was barrel chested, with skin so pale as to be almost albino. He wore leather trousers with a blue woolen shirt. He used a red blanket as a cape, tossed loosely over his shoulder. At his waist was a long, slightly curved saber and a dagger with a blade that looked to be over a foot long. Pushed into his belt was a double barreled flintlock pistol.

"I'm Tsena Argave, Clan Tarsull, from the Sildar Mountains. I went to a Catholic school where the fathers taught me much. I know little of your machines, but I can work hard."

Again, the three looked at each other. "May as well." Rodgers said and held out his hand to the Martian. "You're familiar with this custom?"

Tsena shook Rodgers' hand very stiffly.

"There's another man?" Kate asked.

Ryan turned red. "You'll have to accompany me to the local lock up, sirs and ma'am."

"He's in jail?" Castle asked.

"That he is, but Javier is a good man, sir. And Ma'am. A very good man, especially in a fight. You'll need him here, that you will."

The local jail was one of the few brick buildings in Freeport. One look at the local police convinced Castle that they had been hired for their ability to break heads, and not for their ability to respect the citizens' civil rights. A surly jailer led them to the cells in the back of the jail. "Pay his fine and he's all yours." The jailer said.

Javier Esposito, looking exactly like the one Rick and Kate knew stood up. "Who are your friends, Ryan?"

"Mr. and Mrs. Castle here, and Captain Rodgers own a steamboat. They need a crew, so naturally I thought of you. Tsena has already signed up. He's getting his gear now."

"How'd you end up on Mars?" Castle asked.

Espo shrugged. "I'm from San Antonio de Bexar, in Tejas. My love, Lanie, she wanted to go to New Orleans. So I took her. Once there, she meets this man, nice clothes, nice house, big carriage with four horses, and she don't want Javier any more. I can't go back to Tejas because her family is mad at me for taking her away. I had to get away, so I came here."

"And how'd you end up in jail?" Kat asked.

"There was a pretty girl in the Ares Saloon, but she had a husband." Espo smiled at the memory. "But the husband had three big friends."

"How much is the fine?" Castle asked.

They found Tsena lounging by the pier where _Kate B._ was tied up. All he had for gear was wrapped in a thick woolen blanket, tied at each end and tossed over his shoulder.

"Those your only weapons?" Rodgers asked.

Tsena opened his jacket to reveal a pair of Colt Dragoon pistols. "Earth people don't like to see Martians armed with modern weapons, so I keep these hidden when I'm in town."

"Some Earth people don't mind." Rodgers replied.

"We'll see about finding you a rifle." Kate added.

Tsena nodded. "Joseph Ryan said you're here looking for a young redheaded Earth person. I asked around. One was here about three weeks ago. Didn't stay in Freeport long. She was taken across the canal to Secate Tholus."

"Then we'll go to Secate Tholus."

Seen up close, Secate Tholus wasn't as impressive as it looked from across a mile wide Martian canal.

"When was the last time they picked up the garbage in this town?" Castle asked, kicking at the trash that seemed to cover every street. And has anyone ever repaired any of the buildings?"

Tsena shrugged. "They say that in the old days, Secate Tholus had over a million residents. I doubt there's more than fifty thousand now, but more are moving here each day."

"Why?" Becks asked. Javier and Simone had been left to watch the boat.

"French to the north, Germans to the south west and the Russians to the east. They all want to expand and they are. They'd like to take Secate Tholus, but if one does, the other two will gang up on them, so no one tries anything here. Easier to leave it alone for now. So people flee to here. The Americans at least stay on their own side of the canal."

"You're sure people live here?" Rodgers asked Tsena.

"The old city center is a little ways away. Be there soon."

The old city center was slightly cleaner and in slightly better repair. And it had a lot more people. Mostly Martians but some humans from Earth as well.

"We should split up. Me, Becks and Ryan will try the bar over there."

"Could we have a bite?" Ryan asked. "I had no breakfast."

Rodgers nodded. "Eat if you're hungry. Rick and Kate, try the place across the city square. It looks busy."

The others were assigned to different areas.

They found a Martian restaurant that catered to Earth people. It was a large, open place with thorny bushes around the perimeter. "Keeps people from sneaking out without paying." Castle muttered.

"I need to go to the ladies room. Grab us a table." Kate said and hurried off.

Rick sat at a table and looked around. Everyone seemed to be deeply engaged in their own conversations and ignoring him. He did spot a woman headed for him. She was tall and lithe, with long black hair and grey blue eyes, killer cheekbones and a nice smile. _Not as nice as Kate, of course._

From her clothes, Rick decided she was reasonably well off. Stout boots, a split riding skirt, and what looked like a silk blouse under a leather waist length jacket. A string of pearls encircled her neck.

Suddenly, she smiled and turned slightly to walk straight towards him. She stopped in front of him, sat and leaned over and kissed him, hard. "James, how good to see you again."

Castle looked around and saw Kate standing there looking at the two of them. He also saw two tough looking men glaring at him and headed his way.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14, Alexis's in Wonderland

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Not me. Rating: M, in spots. I'll let you know when. Time: The future, after my Four of a Kind.

 **Chapter 14. Beecher's Bibles.**

The two angry men got to the table where Rick and the unknown dark haired woman were sitting before Kate did. Sensing that something was amiss, Kate stayed back and began unbuttoning her coat to reach her pistols.

Sitting, as he was, Rick couldn't reach for his Colt .44s without everyone noticing. When he recognized one of the men headed for him, he carefully lifted his leg off of the floor and pulled the Colt .36 Police revolver from its ankle holster.

"So, this is your contact." The speaker was a well-dressed man, perhaps in his early thirties, with long dark hair and a beard.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." The woman said.

"Really." Castle added. "I have no idea who she is."

The well-dressed man glared at him. "It isn't polite to lie, mister." He turned to his companion. "Mr. Marks, this man needs a lesson in manners."

Cedric Marks pulled a long stiletto from a sheath on his belt and smiled coldly at Castle. "You do need to learn some manners, don't you?"

As Marks took a step forward, Castle fired from under the table. The slug tore through the flimsy table and struck Marks in the chest. He toppled over, dead.

The other man reached for the gun at his belt. Castle shoved the table over and shot first. The man dropped to one knee, but still had his gun. The woman grabbed Castle's other arm, screaming, "No!" as Castle shot a second time. This time the man was dead.

"What the hell happened here?" Kate asked, rushing to Castle with a Colt in each hand.

"This idiot shot both of them!" Screamed the woman.

"This idiot was being threatened." Castle screamed.

"And he's my husband. Who the hell are you and why did you kiss him?" Kate yelled.

They were interrupted by a bullet zipping past them, followed by another. Two gunmen were standing at the far side of the restaurant, firing at them. As the patrons scattered, Rick and Kate fired back.

"More will be coming!" The woman screamed over the gunfire. "We have to get out of here."

"First sensible thing you've said." Castle muttered.

The three ran towards the dock where _Kate B_. was tied up and they were soon joined by the rest.

"What happened?" Rodgers yelled as bullets whizzed past them. Armed only with pistols, they could see other men arriving to reinforce the gunmen that were already after then.

"She happened." Castle yelled. "She started this."

"I did not. If you had let me explain, I could have talked then out of doing anything, but no, you had to start shooting."

"This is my fault?" Rick screamed.

"We haven't got time for this." She replied. "They'll be trying to flank us so we have to get to the docks. There's a new steamer there and I intend to buy a quick passage on her."

"Never happen." Kate yelled over the sound of gunfire as they leapfrogged down the street, one group providing covering fire while the other group moved.

"I have plenty of money." The woman said confidently.

"Yes, but we own the boat. You're staying here to face the music."

The woman nodded. "In that case, you'll never know who's after you. Until it's too late, of course. And I'll have to tell them all that I know about you to bargain for my life."

When they got back to the _Kate B._ , they were able to hold off their assailants with the Colts and Sharps rifles. Rick, Ryan and Tsena quickly got steam up and _Kate B.'s_ paddle wheel began to slowly move and push them away from the dock.

Rick turned and saw that the dark haired woman was still with them. "What the hell is she doing here?"

"Rick, we need to find out what she got us into." Kate answered. "We can put her ashore later if we have to."

"You'd better worry about making your getaway." The woman pointed behind them where a long, slender oared galley was pulling away from the docks perhaps a mile or so behind them. "That's _Landwaster_. It's owned by the older brother of the man you killed. It's a very fast ship with a heavily armed crew. Once you get the steam up, you can outrun her. But until then, she has a speed advantage over you. And a noticeable advantage in firepower." She smiled at them. "Most Martian vessels are oared. The canals are too narrow to use sails, especially if you have to tack when the wind isn't directly behind you. Most Martian galleys use slaves to man the oars, but not _Landwaster_. Those are professional rowers manning her oars. Well paid, well fed and very strong. I can attest to that."

" _Landwaster_?" Said Ryan. "Bloody hell. We're dead."

"Why's that?" Kate asked.

"Captain Billy Bloody Bligh and his bloody brothers and his bloody ship are the worst bloody pirates on all of bloody Mars." Ryan shot back. "There's probably fifty or so gunmen aboard her, not to mention the rowers who can be bloody nasty."

Castle looked around the boiler. The Martian galley was gaining on them. "Come on. More coal. We need to get a move on."

 _Kate B._ slowly accelerated away from Freeport, but _Landwaster_ was moving much faster. The pirate ship was about a half a mile behind them now. Kate loaded her Sharps rifle, took careful aim and fired. She saw a splash perhaps fifty yards in front of _Landwaster_.

Castle had an idea. "The oars on a galley have to work in perfect unison, otherwise they interfere with each other. Let them get a little closer, then everyone open fire at the oarsmen. If one side has to stop rowing and the other side doesn't, the ship'll make a sharp turn and we can get away."

The Martian ship was gaining on them at a slower pace now as _Kate B_. sped up, but they were still gaining. At about five hundred yards, the pirates opened fire at them. Everyone but Simone in the pilot house took cover behind the boiler. The modern steel would stop any bullet that hit it.

Rodgers dashed up to the pilot house carrying his Sharps. The rest remained behind, with Ryan and Tsena being issued rifles. Esposito was busy shoveling coal into the boiler.

"Okay. Open fire." Castle yelled. The five Colt rifles spat out thirty rounds in just a few seconds and Kate's and Rick's Sharps added to the din. As oarsmen were hit, their oars stopped moving and interfered with the other oars on that side of the ship. In a matter of a minute or so, only the oars on the far side of _Landwaster_ were moving, sending the galley into a sharp turn. Then the crew of _Kate B_. really caught a break. The pirate galley rammed a large, sturdy barge, stoving in a part of their hull. It wasn't bad enough to sink the pirates' ship, but it was sufficient to stop the chase.

As steam built up in the boiler, the _Kate B._ left Freeport and the pirates behind.

"Now, who the hell are you and what did you get us into?" Castle demanded of the woman.

She smiled at him and held out her hand. "Claudia Grant, M.A.S.S."

"Mass?" Castle replied. "What kind of mass. Catholic? Inert? Cancerous?"

"It's the Martian Anti-Slavery Society." She said as if addressing someone very dense.

"They have slaves on Mars?" Kate asked.

"They have slaves in your country and in Brazil and Africa and the Arab world, so of course they have slaves on Mars."

"Our country?" Becks asked.

"I'm English, of course." She smiled as if that were a special accomplishment.

"And why did you kiss me?" Castle demanded.

"I thought you were my contact. I kissed you because no one ever pays any attention to two lovers."

"Kiss my husband again and you'll find out just how much attention you'll get." Kate growled.

"So why did the late Mr. Bligh and Marks try to disassemble me?"

She shook her head. "He wouldn't have dared to do anything in public. I'm an English lady after all. They were just trying to scare you."

"They succeeded." Castle snapped.

"Why was Bligh interested in you?" Kate asked.

"The Blighs are pirates, smugglers, bandits, and slavers. Anything to turn a dishonest pound. Naturally, they hate the Society. Do you really plan to put me ashore?" She asked suddenly.

They all exchanged glances. "I suppose not." Kate finally said.

"May I ask how two sets of twins ended up together on Mars?" Miss Grant asked, changing the subject.

They had thought about that and had a story. Castle spoke up. "I'm Rick Castle and my brother is Rick Rodgers. Our parents died when we were a few days old. We were adopted by different families in different parts of the US. Oddly, both families named us Richard. Our wives, Kate and Rebecca, called Becks, are also twins. Simone Renoir is their sister, a widow now."

"Interesting." Miss Grant said, sounding like she didn't quite believe Rick. "So, where are we going?"

"We're headed for Martian Metals at someplace called Hard Rock City."

"Do you know the shortcut?"

"What shortcut?"

"Can you bring me a map?" Miss Grant said. "I'll show you."

A map was found and they all gathered around, except for the pilot. "You're on the D'Lanat canal, a major canal. To get to Martian Metals staying on major canals, you'd need to go east for nearly a hundred and thirty miles and then pick up the Chaloona canal and go back northwest to here." Grant tapped a spot on the map. "Or you can take this nearly silted up canal and cut nearly seventy miles off your trip."

"Nearly silted up?" Castle asked. "How deep is the water?"

"At least four feet deep in the shallowest areas, and as much as fifty feet elsewhere. But, the canal is no more than two hundred yards wide and there is a warlike tribe of Martians that live there. They're quite friendly with the Society and they hate the Blighs, so you can put a considerable distance between you and _Landwaster_. If Bligh tried to follow us, he'll be dead."

"Out of the frying pan and into the fire." Becks muttered. But, after talking it over, they decided to try the shortcut.

They arrived the next morning at the entrance to the smaller canal. It was mostly stagnant water and Castle could see the bottom of the canal in several places. He was stationed at the bow to try to keep them to the deepest part of the canal.

"In about four miles, you'll see a fort on the right side. That belongs to the Mancala, that's the tribe I spoke of." Grant said.

The fort was a massive pile of red rocks flanked by smaller fortifications that straggled along the banks of the canal. Rodgers looked them over with a practiced eye. "Nice. You can only sail in a straight line in this damned canal, and the forts are situated to put you in a crossfire. What kind of ordnance do they have, Miss Grant?"

"They used to use trebuchets, catapults, mangonels and similar ancient artillery. But now they've learned to make black powder and crude muzzle loading cannon. At the range they'd be shooting at, they could blow just about anything that could get in here right out of the water."

"How many troops man these fortifications?"

"King Mudros Bloodeye has about eight hundred professional warriors. They man most of the cannons and are armed with most of the firearms available. But, in times of danger, the whole population of the tribe, men and women, young and old are called to service. But, most of the time they work on the farms and ranches as well as the mines. All together, I'd say they could put fifteen thousand troops in the field if they called everyone up."

"How well are the draftees armed?" Rodgers asked,

"They use longbows and crossbows mostly. A few only have spears to fight with."

"What kind of weapons do the professional warriors have?"

"Mostly muzzle loading flintlock muskets. Percussion caps are harder to come by than flint. However, there are a hundred or so modern weapons."

Simone, in the pilot house, guided them into a small pier that jutted out into the canal. Grant stood on the bow where she could be seen. The dozen or so people on the dock seemed to be glad to see her. Kate noticed that one young lad ran off towards the fort.

"Headed off to tell the boss that he has company. I hope he's in a good mood."

"It's impolite to come ashore until you're invited. Someone will be down to invite us shortly." Grant explained.

In ten minutes, they could see a mob of people head for the dock. As they got a bit closer, they could hear music, drums, horns and something that sounded like a whistle. If there was any melody, Castle couldn't find it.

"What do you think?" Kate asked.

"It has a good beat, but it's too hard to dance to. I'd give it a six."

Kate just glared at him, but then smiled.

"That's the royal march." Grant announced. "King Mudros Bloodeye is coming down himself. That's a good sign."

King Mudros was a big, muscular man, dressed in Earth style pants and a shirt, with a cape made from the skin of some animal thrown over his broad shoulder. A pair of unfamiliar revolvers were pushed under a sash around his waist. Over his shoulder was a modern rifle, although a muzzle loader. He was surrounded by armed men, and Rodgers estimated he'd brought most of his professional warriors along. He brought a band, several attractive women, who Grant told them were his official wives, and a collection of hangers on of the sort that any politician on Earth would have.

The king gestured to Grant and the others to step onto the dock. Grant walked forward to him and took his hand. They began chatting in the local Martian dialect. Soon, she called the _Kate B.'s_ crew over and introduced them. Mudros Bloodeye shook their hand and said something in Martian to them.

"I've told the king that you're my friends and that were running from the _Landwaster_. He says we can pass through his territory, but we have to pay. Since we're friends, he won't ask for much."

"What did he have in mind?" Rodgers asked.

"Weapons and ammunition. He has two sons who still don't have modern weapons. Two rifles and two pistols and some black powder and percussion caps should do it."

Rodgers went back on board and came back with two Enfield .577 caliber muzzle loading rifles and two double barreled pistols, plus powder and caps. He handed them to Grant who in turn gave them to the king with some appropriate speech in Martian. The king called two your boys to him who couldn't have reached ten years of age yet. He handed them each a rifle and a pistol with a bit of ceremony.

"He's telling everyone that the Earth people give him valuable weapons because he's such a powerful king and because he has friends among the Earth folks. He's told them that Bligh and the _Landwaster_ is headed this way. But under the king's wise leadership, they protect his people from the evil ones."

"Can we get out of here?" Rodgers asked. "I don't want to hang around any longer than necessary."

Grant shook her head. "Sorry. We're the guests of honor at a banquet tonight. To refuse would be a great insult to the king."

The party wasn't as bad as Castle had thought it would be. It was worse. The Martian food was mostly overcooked and far too spicy. That didn't bother any of the Martian partiers as their main goal was to get drunk. Luckily, in spite of all of the heavily armed Martian warriors around, there were no fights. Apparently, alcohol made Martians happy and friendly. The entertainment, according to Grant, was a poetry contest. Each of the officers of King Mudros's professional soldiers had a bard to make up poems glorifying their boss. And, of course, it was all in the local Martian dialect.

Kate and Becks, who could outdrink their men, helped them back to the boat.

"I've actually been to book launch parties that were worse." Rick slurred.

"How were they worse?' Kate asked.

"You weren't there."

Kate kissed him. "Just for that, you'll get a little reward when we get to our cabin. If you can keep it up." She teased.

"I'll never be that drunk."

Early the next day they set off down the canal. They found that it really wasn't that bad, the shallow parts being easy to see from the pilot house. Along the banks they saw Martians, sometimes alone, sometimes in what appeared to be families and occasionally in large groups. All seemed to be glad to see the _Kate B._ and waved and called to them.

Leaving the minor canal, they soon found themselves at the Martian Metals dock on the Chaloona canal. Apparently word of their coming had spread rapidly as the area around the docks were surrounded by Earthmen and even a few miners. They could hear the miners cheering.

"Why the celebration?" Kate asked Miss Grant.

"Martian Metals uses mostly Earth born miners. They use technologically advanced equipment, so they need trained miners. Other mining companies use Martian slaves or poor immigrants. Trained miners, however, expect to be not just well paid, but well fed. You're bringing them earth food and drink." Grant laughed. "Mostly drink. They are miners, after all."

The food and drink was off loaded and the miners headed off to eat and drink. Rodgers talked to the mine managers about any rumors of a redheaded Earthgirl.

"They haven't heard a word about Alexis. And they have no cargo for us. Their last shipment of metals left four days ago and they won't have another load for two weeks or more."

"I can find you a cargo." Miss Grant said.

"What's the cargo and where is it going to?" Kate asked, suspiciously.

"There's a city of freed slaves about two hundred miles from here. We have a shipment of farming tools and other things to make life easier for the ex-slaves. We can pay you well. The Society has ample funds."

After a brief discussion among the five and a longer discussion about payment with Miss Grant, they agreed to the job.

The tools were waiting at an abandoned city, which sat on a nearly silted up canal, not ten miles from where they were.

But when they arrived, they began to get suspicious. "How come all the armed Martians?" Rodgers asked. He counted about thirty of them and two or three earthmen.

"This is a very valuable cargo. Any manufactured products from Earth are valuable. We can't just let them sit out by a canal for anyone to steal, can we?"

As soon as the _Kate B._ tied up to the dock, the Martians began loading the cargo. As they worked, Castle walked among the crates until he found a long box marked "Bibles". He had a sinking feeling in his stomach. He got a pry bar as unobtrusively as he could, then pulled the top of the crate off.

"What do you think you're doing?" Yelled one of the MASS earthmen.

"Examining our cargo. You lied to us."

The rest of _Kate B._ 's crew gathered around the crate.

"What are those?" Asked Becks.

"Model 1853 Enfield rifles, caliber .577." Grant said. "How ever did you figure it out?"

Castle glared at her. "Before our Civil War, anti-slavery groups ran guns into Kansas where pro- and anti-slavery forces were fighting. To disguise what their cargoes were, they shipped rifles in crates marked "Bibles." The rifles were nicknamed Beecher's Bibles after a famous abolitionist. Given that the crate was about the right size for rifles, I came to the obvious conclusion."

"You're very intelligent." Grant said, then added, "For an American."

"What happens to us now?" Rodgers asked, his hand near his revolver. "Do we get dumped here?"

Grant shook her head. "We're not bandits. We will pay you every cent of what you're owed, and a bonus as well. Once we've offloaded the weapons, you're free to leave. And you'll be miles from any fighting. We are going to a town filled with ex-slaves, but we intend to turn them into an army and attack a Russian held town that's been slave raiding. Oh, officially, the Russians say that the town isn't one of their settlements, but only a group of renegade Cossacks, but that's a lie. Ekatrinburg is a stain upon humanity and we intend to wipe out that stain."

Tsena growled. "Ekatrinburg! They've raided my tribe many times. This is why I worked for the Earthmen, to get fine weapons to kill those who stole our women and children. We're I not bound by my honor to sail on the _Kate B._ I would follow you."

The five friends exchanged glances, then Rodgers nodded. "Okay, we'll take your arsenal to your army, but then we go looking for Alexis."

The rest of the weapons were quickly stowed aboard and, with the Martians aboard, the _Kate B._ headed for the Martian army. Rick, Kate, Becks and Simone couldn't help but notice that Rodgers spent a good deal of time with Tsena that day.

Over dinner, Becks asked him what he was talking to Tsena about.

"The local Russians seem to be a bunch of bastards. The Cossacks, being officially a bunch of renegades, don't obey any kind of law. They don't seem to mind how many Martian slaves they kill since they can always catch more. And they kill a lot."

"Did you want to let Tsena go with the Society?" Becks asked.

"He'd like to go, but he told me that he'd given his word to stay with us until we find Alexis and even if we tell him he could leave, his honor wouldn't allow him to go."

"We are here to get Alexis back." Castle said. "We can't solve all of the universes' problems. Hell, we can hardly solve our own."

That night the Martians took over shoveling coal into the boiler, allowing the five friends to keep only one person on duty in the pilot house. When they got up the next morning, they found Rodgers deep in conversation with the earthmen from the Society. Again, Becks asked him what he was talking about at breakfast.

"Idealists." Rodgers said. "Nice young men who do want to stop slavery, but they know less about war than they know about sex, and that's damned little. I thought I'd give them a few hints. I am the only real soldier around here, after all."

Becks took his hand. "Just remember that we have a job to do. And that job doesn't involve getting involved in a Martian war. I can't lose you now, dammit."

Rodgers spent the next ten minutes assuring Becks that she meant everything to him. But then he went over to the earthmen and began to talk to them. Soon he had every one of their passengers crowded around him, listening intently.

Becks sat watching him with a look of horror on her face. "If he gets himself killed, I'll…." She stopped. She didn't know what she'd do, exactly, but it would be drastic.

The would-be Martian army was camped miles away from Ekatrinburg. As soon as the _Kate B._ docked, Rick got off the ship and headed for a group of earthmen and women standing on the dock. "We've brought your weapons, but we need help. We're looking for a young woman, redheaded and with really pale skin. She's called…"

"Alexis?" A chubby blonde finished for him.

"Yes!" Castle said excitedly. "Is she here?"

"Not here, mate." A bearded young man said. "She's in Ekatrinburg. Rode in with some American blokes a while back. When was that, Charles?"

Charles thought it was several weeks past, but the blonde insisted it was less than a week ago. As they argued, Castle ran back to the _Kate B._ He pushed his way past Martians unloading the weapons and ran to his friends. "She's here. Alexis is in Ekatrinburg."

"Are you sure?" Becks asked. She wouldn't put it past Grant and her friends to lie to try to get Rodgers to stay and help with their war.

"We should go find out." Kate said, heading for the dock with her friends trailing along.

A short discussion confirmed that Alexis had been seen as recently as yesterday in Ekatrinburg. The Society had an excellent intelligence system in the city. They also confirmed that Alexis was being held a prisoner.

"I should tell you that I've been offered the job of leading the army." Rodgers said. "I turned them down last night because we had another mission, but now…." He looked over at Becks. "Now I'll have to take the job, I guess." He reached out his hand and Becks reached over and took his.

"Don't you dare get hurt." She said, leaning against him.

"Don't you worry. I'm going to be their general. I'll be safe in the rear."

"We hope." Castle muttered.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15, Alexis's in Wonderland

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Yes, I do own Castle. Tee hee. Gotcha. Rating: M, in places. Time: After Four of a Kind.

 **Chapter Fifteen: The Big Red One**

The Martian army had been encamped by the canal for more than a week. With their settlement of Ekatrinburg only twenty miles away, the Russians had ample warning of the attack. The cavalry of the two armies had been skirmishing for days by the time the Martian army headed inland.

Rodgers and the rest of his friends rode on Earth bred horses to the rear of the army. Ryan, Esposito and Tseka had been left with the _Kate B._ with orders to keep the steam up and to be prepared for a quick getaway.

"God dammit!" Rodgers growled. "Look at the left flank. They're all bunched up. How many times do I have to tell them not to bunch up?" He yelled to one of the MASS humans riding near them. "Send a galloper to the left flank and tell their commander to keep them from getting all bunched up. They'll get shot to bits like that."

The Earthman called to a Martian and spoke to him in his native language. Then the Martian galloped off.

They rode up over a small rise and saw the Russian town spread out before them. The first thing you noticed was a fort, built of red Martian rock. Surrounding the fort was the town itself, everything from tents to crude lean-tos up to a large, brick Russian Orthodox church.

"They've left the town standing." Rodgers said. "That's good and bad."

"Why good and bad?" Becks asked.

"Bad because fighting in a city is about the worst fighting there is. The enemy is dug in and you won't see him until you're right on top of him and then it's damned near hand to hand fighting. It's good because if we can chase the Russians out of the town, we'll be right on top of their damned fort. If I had been in charge over there, I would have torn down the whole damned town so as to leave my people with excellent fields of fire all around. Maybe keep the brick church as a strongpoint."

He turned to Castle. "Rick, you ever see the movie _Zulu_?

"Yeah, but not recently. You want us to wear red coats?"

"Remember the Zulu tactics? The loins hit you in the center while the horns sweep around and crash in on your flanks. We're doing something like that today. Or at least we're going to try to do it if my damned army can obey orders." He yelled to another MASS member. "Send another damned galloper to the left flank. Not bunching up doesn't mean they wander all over the damned planet. They're milling around over there like a bunch of sheep. Get 'em moving."

He turned back to Rick and the others. "We have over ten thousand men. Pretty soon I'll start extending my flanks so that they'll wrap around their fort completely. That way they can't take men from one part of their wall face my main attack."

"And the main attack will be?" Becks asked.

"Hey diddle diddle, straight up the middle. Not a very complex tactic, but about all that my troops are capable of."

They rode up a rise just a mile or so from the town and looked down at the army heading for it. The buildings were still standing, but they could see people lining the walls of the fort.

"Maybe they left the town standing, but pulled all the people back into the fort. That would be…" Rodgers was interrupted by a volley of gunfire coming from the town. "Damn. We'll have to fight for the town then."

He stood in his saddle and yelled to a group standing near him. "Okay, play the charge." They lifted their horns to their lips and played something that almost sounded like the bugle call "Charge".

Castle and his friends made it into the town of Ekatrinburg, or at least what was left of it. The town was burning or had burned. There were only a few buildings substantial enough to burn very long. The church, with brick walls and a slate roof hadn't burned at all. Rodgers made his headquarters there.

Castle had ridden past the dead and wounded of both sides. A substantial blonde Russian woman lay by the church, apparently just resting. Until you noticed the bullet hole above her ear.

"Christ, I hate this." He muttered.

Kate reached over and took his hand. "I hate it, too. And I'm glad we hate it."

The best armed troops of the Martian army were forming up for an assault on the fort. The forlorn hope, as Rodgers called them, the people who would be the first to charge the walls with ladders and tools stood behind the church, preparing themselves as best they could. Rodgers was scanning the walls with his binoculars.

One of the MASS members rode up in a hurry, threw his reins to another Earthman and ran, shouting for Rodgers. "Sir! The cavalry is escaping."

"What cavalry?' Rodgers yelled back.

"Every Martian with any kind of riding beast high tailed it out of the back and broke through our lines."

Rodgers smiled. "I thought that their fire had slackened. I'll bet it's every man for himself in there." He turned to the buglers who'd followed him. "Sound the charge, if you please."

At the first notes from the bugles, the Martian infantry rushed the walls. Some were shot down, but many were not. A half an hour later, it was all over.

Castle and his friends found themselves standing over a tall, dark haired, clean shaven man who had been bayonetted in the calf. He looked up at them with hatred in his eyes.

"Where's Alexis?" Castle demanded. "The redhead girl. Where is she?"

The man just laughed. "My people will get me out of this shithole and then I'll come looking for you."

Castle pulled his Colt and looked down its barrel at the man.

"Sir! Sir!' Cried a Martian. "We found her. The redheaded Earth girl. She's here." Two burly Martians were carrying Alexis who looked like she'd been beaten and was wearing a dirty robe and apparently nothing else.'

"What happened?" Castle asked her softly. Alexis just began crying.

"We found her tied to a bed. She had no clothes on, sir." A Martian said.

"She was a lot of fun, though." The wounded man said with a laugh. "All of my people thought so."

Castle whirled around, his Colt pointing at the man's head. He slowly began to squeeze the trigger.

"Castle, don't." Kate said, putting her hand on his gun hand. "You're not a cold blooded killer. You're not like him and you don't want to be. Believe me."

Rodgers nodded. "You want to kill him now, but don't do it. Tomorrow and the day after and the days after that, you'll feel different. You'll never forgive yourself."

Castle putdown his Colt and turned away from the wounded man. Kate put her arms around him.

"I told you. My people will…"

His voice was cut off by a gunshot. When Castle whirled around, the wounded man was on the ground with his head in a pool of blood. Rodgers was holstering his Colt.

"But you said…" Castle began and then stopped.

"Sure, Rick. You'd feel awful about killing him. But not me. This is just another day at the office for me."

They took Alexis back to the boat and put her to bed in one of the cabins. She looked up at Rick and Kate and frowned. "Dad, what are you doing here with Judge Beckett?"

Back on the Moon, Castle finished explaining what had happened to Metford. "This Alexis is the daughter of writer Richard Castle. She's never heard of William Bracken as any kind of politician. Apparently Johanna Beckett is still alive and Kate Beckett graduated from Stanford Law School and became an Assistant DA in New York City and then a Federal Judge. That Rick Castle has written a series of books about a tough Federal Judge who fights to ensure that everyone gets justice. She's Judge Nicole Heat and the books sound fascinating. I've wondered what would have happened to us is Kate never became a cop, but apparently…."

"Apparently no one here cares." Metford broke in. "You need to get ready for your next Alexis."

"Where are we going?"

"Los Angeles."

"Los Angeles which is full of dinosaurs? LA full of zombies? Run by mobsters? Maybe by Nazis? Hell's Angels? Psychotic teddy bears?"

"No, it's practically identical to the LA you know."

"Practically?" Castle asked, suspiciously.

"You'll be briefed tomorrow." Metford began doing paperwork and said no more.

Once back in their Lunar condo, Castle gathered his friends. "Metford says we're going to an LA that "practically" like the one we know. I'm betting it's over run with Mad Max types or radioactive chicks in bikinis living in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Maybe..."

"Maybe we'll find out tomorrow." Kate said, kissing him lightly. "Let's go to bed, Castle."

They did, although Kate had to work hard to take Castle's mind off of what the Los Angeles they were headed for was like.

When they got up the next day, they found that their clothing had been delivered overnight. There were no flak jackets, or weaponry and nothing to indicate a toxic wasteland awaited them. Castle was almost disappointed.

What they did get were high quality, well-tailored suits and accessories for the men and high quality, well-tailored business suits for the ladies. The only difference that anyone could see was that the women's underwear was quite brief and flimsy. Castle was not disappointed.

After breakfast, they found themselves in Metford's office. He motioned for them to sit. "We have quite an extensive network of offices on this Earth. It's much more peaceful than your Earth, although wars are hardly unknown. But, they are experts at bio-engineering and genetic manipulation. Some of their inventions are quite amazing."

"Any of these amazing inventions ever get lose and terrorize a city?" Castle asked sarcastically. "Climb a skyscraper maybe? Nosh on the inhabitants?"

"Never." Metford replied. "You'll be transported to a parking garage on Wilshire Boulevard in LA. You'll be in a small room marked as a machinery room. Use this," Metford handed Rodgers a piece of slick plastic, "to open the door. Downstairs there's a taxi stand. Ask the cabbie to take you to this address." He handed Rodgers a slip of paper. "It's a rather nice hotel. The day after you arrive, go to the ground floor and go to the offices of Gorman and Brent, Import/Export Consultants. Someone will be expecting you."

Once at the red square, Castle checked his wallet. There were two credit cards from banks he recognized and also cash. He counted it out. "Hey, two thousand in hundreds, and guess what? Teddy Roosevelt is on the hundred dollar bill."

"Looks like we won't be spending them back home." Simone teased him. "Of course they might give you change in twenty five dollar bills with Aaron Burr on them."

There was a flash of blue light and they found themselves in a small, dark room. In one corner were five suitcases, each with one of their names on it. "Shall we?" Rodgers asked, holding up the key. There was no obvious lock on the door, but when the key was held near the door, it swung easily open. They stepped out into the hot LA day.

They went downstairs and easily found a taxi. Getting in, Rodgers handed the driver the address.

The cabbie looked at it. "LA Offshore Hilton. No problem."

Castle wondered what the Offshore Hilton could be. Certainly it couldn't be on Catalina Island or on one of the Channel Islands, or could it? He soon found out.

From Wilshire they headed for the Santa Monica Freeway. Unlike the freeway in either of their Earths, the Santa Monica Freeway went a mile off shore and ended at a towering building. The cabbie pulled up and a doorman opened the door for them.

Castle paid the cabbie and added a substantial tip. Walking inside, they went to the front desk where a young man smiled professionally at them. "May I help you?"

"Mr. and Mrs. Castle, Mr. and Mrs. Rodgers and Miss Renoir. I believe we're expected?"

The man's smile widened. "Yes, indeed, sir. Three suites on the seventieth floor. Our records indicate you've never been to the LA Offshore Hilton before?"

"Correct."

"The hotel has seventy two floors above the high tide level and six below the water. Your suites are facing the city and are the highest suites in the hotel. The three stories above you and the roof are restaurants, bars and clubs. The computers in your suites can give you full details. There are four floors of suites below the water or just at it, depending on the tide and two floors of restaurants and shops. The main floor here also has shops for you convenience, sir."

"That'll be fine." Rick said.

"Is there anything else I can do for you?" Getting a quick shake of the head from Rick, he called for a bellman to take their luggage.

The suites were magnificent. Each had a living room and a separate bedroom with a bathroom containing a tub big enough for all of them to be in comfortably, although Kate, remembering a similar tub on another Earth wasn't going to let anyone but Castle share their tub. No matter what.

Castle sat at the computer, which was nothing but a paper thin screen. When he put his hands in front of it, a holographic keyboard appeared. Castle began looking at the amenities the hotel offered. "Hey! Here's Gorman and Brent, just where Metford said it would be." He continued to look at the restaurants the hotel had. "Would you prefer the roof top restaurant or the one below sea level?"

"The rooftop." Kate said. "The one underwater sounds creepy."

Castle nodded. "I'll call Rodgers and…" just then the computer emitted a musical tone and he could see Rodgers' face in the screen. "The computer is a phone, too." He said. "So, Kate wants to go to the rooftop for dinner. Okay with you two?" After conferring with Becks, and then with Simone, they agreed to go to the rooftop to eat dinner.

They decided on surf and turf and sat on the roof, watching airplanes land at LAX and ships, from small sailboats to giant cargo vessels sail by. They ended their meal with an excellent bottle of wine.

Back in their suite, Castle looked in the refrigerator for some more wine and also found a bag of peanuts. Opening the peanuts, he accidentally dropped one. As he bent to pick it up, a pink ball of fluff shot out from under the bed, scooped up the peanut, squeaked and ran back under the bed. Castle got down on his knees and looked under the bed.

"There's a little cave or something under here."

"Metford said they did a lot of bioengineering here. I hope the little fellow gets more than just the occasional peanut to eat." Kate said, sitting on the bed.

"I hope he doesn't have a taste for best-selling authors."

"I'll protect you, Castle, but only if you get on the bed where I can keep an eye on you."

She kept and eye, and other things, on him for quite a while.

The next morning they went down to Gorman and Brent. They were expected.

Mr. Gorman talked to them. "We don't usually get involved in this sort of things. My people here are scientists. But I can tell you that the Alexis you seek is still on this Earth. In fact, she's from this earth."

Kate frowned. "If she's here, why are we looking for her? This isn't Castle the scientist's home Earth, so she can't be the Alexis we want."

"Someone tried to kidnap her, but her housecat killed them. And then Alexis ran away. We have orders to help you find her. Perhaps Mr. Metford wants to know if she learned anything about the other Alexis' out there. Perhaps he's worried about her."

"Metford? Worried about someone?" Rodgers muttered.

"The housecat killed the kidnappers? That must be some puddy tat." Castle said.

"They do genetic manipulation here. The housecat weighed two hundred and fifty pounds and was genetically bonded to Alexis. He would defend her to the death, which is what happened to the cat. Alexis' father is holed up in a recreational vehicle in a national park somewhere, cut off from the outside world. He does that when he wants to write. Her mother is in Africa with her second husband shooting a movie. They've tried to reach her, but with no success."

"Meredith is a movie star?" Castle asked, somewhat shocked.

"I wouldn't say a movie star." Gorman replied diplomatically. "Although she does make films."

Kate nudged Rick. She really wasn't interested in what alternate Merediths did.

"Alexis ran away?" Rodgers asked, getting back on track.

Gorman nodded. "We have no idea where."

"And we have no idea, either. So how are we supposed to find her?"

"We have the name of a private investigator who specializes in finding missing persons. Here's his card."

Castle looked over Rodgers' shoulder at the card. "You gotta be kidding me? Phillip Marlowe? That's your private eye? He's a fictional character."

"He's a fictional character and a very real LA private eye." Gorman replied. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do."

They took a cab to Phillip Marlowe's office on Hollywood Boulevard. Castle looked up at the name on the building. "No. His office isn't in the Cahuenga building and it's not number 615. It can't be."

Kate frowned. "What's wrong?"

"When Raymond Chandler started writing the Phillip Marlowe novels eighty plus years ago, Marlowe's office was in the Cahuenga Building on Hollywood Boulevard. His office number was 615. If Sam Spade has his offices next door and Spenser is on the other side, I'm out of here."

Kate put her arm around him. "Come on, Writer Man, you can do this." And she led him inside the building.

On the sixth floor, they stood in front of a door marked: Phillip Marlowe-Confidential Investigations. They went in. Phillip Marlowe was sitting at a desk. Looking up at them.

"It can't be!" Castle moaned. "It's…"

Kate jammed her four inch heel into his foot to shut him up. She held out her hand and walked towards Marlowe. "Mr. Marlowe, I'm Kate Castle. You were recommended to us by Mr. Gorman."

Marlowe took her hand and didn't let go. "And just what can I do for you, gorgeous?"

"You can remember that I'm married. This is my husband."

Rick nodded, still favoring one foot.

"I'm Rick Rodgers and this is my fiancé, Becky Beckett." Rodgers put a protective arm around Becks.

"Simone Renoir." She said coldly. Although known in this world as Phillip Marlowe, she'd always remember the face as being that of her rapist, Tom Demming.

"So what can I do for you?" Marlowe asked.

"Is that your real name?" Castle asked.

"No, it's Thomas Demming. Any reason you need to know?"

"Just curious."

They quickly explained what they needed and provided a head shot of Alexis.

"Okay, I'll get my partner." Marlow said, reaching down behind his desk. "Time to get up and go to work, Sherlock."

A large bloodhound came walking around the desk to stand in front of Kate. He looked up at her. "What do you want to find this dame for?"

Kate was taken aback by a talking dog, and the fact that he was dressed in a double breasted suit and wore a fedora. "Pardon?" She managed. "Who are you?"

"McGruff's the name, finding people is my game. So, why do you want this chick?"

"She's disappeared from her home. She might be in trouble."

"And the cops weren't notified?"

Kate shrugged. "She's an adult. There's no foul play involved, so no police interest." She lied. The house cat had been killed as had two men trying to kidnap Alexis, but they didn't want to involve the police.

"Do you know where she was last seen?" McGruff asked, apparently satisfied with their explanation.

"Her apartment in West LA." Rodgers said.

"We'll start there."

Marlowe, McGruff and the Castles drove in Marlowe's convertible with the others following in a cab. McGruff picked up the scent at once just outside Alexis' door. "A dame left here and she was plenty scared. It's gotta be the mop you're looking for."

McGruff followed the scent to the curb. "She got in a car here. I can track her though. Get the car."

As they drove through LA. McGruff kept his nose outside the car.

"So, you're McGruff, the crime dog?" Castle asked.

"I'm Seamus McGruff, private nose, buddy, and don't you ever forget it."

They tracked the car to a seedy bar in the slums of Beverly Hills. Going inside, the bartender glared at them. "We don't let his kind in here." He snarled, looking at McGruff with hatred in his eyes. The other patrons of the bar glared at McGruff. Castle decided they were a rough and unfriendly crew.

Both Marlowe and McGruff got a determined look in their eyes and headed for the bartender.

Castle quickly stepped between the two and the bartender. "You mean you don't like a furry guy whose pal is going to buy the house a round?" He dropped a hundred on the bar. Then he thought about it and dropped another hundred.

"Seen this chick?" Marlowe asked the bartender.

Castle still had his wallet in his hand and a smile on his face.

The bartender nodded. "She came in here a while back with a blonde chick. They talked to Frankie in the back. "He motioned to a man who was better dressed than the other customers.

Castle dropped another hundred on the bar and they all headed for Frankie.

"Can I help you?" Frankie asked politely.

"You seen this frail?" McGruff asked.

"Never before in my life."

"The bartender says otherwise."

Frankie shrugged. "Hey, maybe I did. A lot of chicks come in here."

Castle dropped another hundred in front of Frankie. "You'd have remembered her."

The hundred disappeared into Frankie's pocket. "I do remember her, all of a sudden."

"What'd she want?" McGruff growled.

"She wanted a pistol, on account of she said she had people after her. But I couldn't help her. That would have been illegal."

Castle smiled. "So what kind of a pistol couldn't you get her?"

"I couldn't get her an M9 Berretta, military issue, with the fifteen round magazine, two spare mags and a hundred rounds of 9mm ammo."

"She want anything else?"

Frankie shook his head.

"Any idea where she went?"

Frankie shrugged. "Out the door."

Castle dropped another hundred on the table. "Thanks for being no help to us."

They got back in their cars and McGruff told them to keep going west. When they hit the ocean, they headed north on the Pacific Coast Highway.

"That was a waste of C notes back there, Pretty Boy." McGruff said. "They'll be drinking for a week on what you gave the bartender and Frankie would have rolled over on his mother for twenty bucks."

"Maybe. Maybe not. But we got the information."

They were in Malibu when McGruff spoke again. "Turn right here. We're not far from her."

McGruff led them to a rustic looking place in Malibu Canyon. "She's in there all right. I can smell her."

They all got out of the car and walked toward the house. Suddenly a blonde woman popped up from behind a hedge pointing a gun at them "Don't move!" She screamed. "You're trespassing. Now get off this property."

Castle raised his hands. "We're here for Alexis Castle. We think she's in trouble and we can help."

"Daddy?" Alexis cried from inside the house. "Is that you?" before Castle could answer, she ran out of the house and threw herself into his arms. "Thank god you came. They killed Pepper, Daddy. They tried to kill me." Suddenly she caught sight of a duplicate of her father and pushed Rick away. "You're clones! You're not my Daddy." The girl with the gun moved closer, aiming at Rick. Rick saw both Marlowe and McGruff reaching inside their jackets, presumably for weapons.

"No! We're not clones." He sent Marlowe and McGruff back to their car and out of earshot. As quickly as he could, he explained what and who they were to Alexis.

When he was done, Alexis just stared at them. It was then that the changes in Alexis finally got through to Rick. They were standing on level ground, but he was looking up at Alexis. He peeked and saw she was wearing boots with four inch heels, but that alone didn't explain the difference in heights. And her boobs were huge. He also noticed that her clothing appeared to have been painted onto her. Which turned out to be correct.

"Alexis. Um, what happened…You're…different?"

Alexis looked at him. "What do you mean? I'm just the way Mom and Dad ordered me. Six feet, one, red hair, blue eyes and 40DD boobs." She smiled. "I have a genius IQ of course, but who doesn't these days?"

"Ordered?" Castle was starting to understand, but…

'Daddy! Duh! Genetic modification at…"Alexis shook her head. "I forgot. You're not my dad. But, you can request your child have whatever physical or intellectual attributes you want. Can't you do that on your Earth?"

"No." Castle said. "Forty DD…Who? What? Why?" Castle tried desperately not to stare.

"Mom, of course. Oh, are you still with Mom back in…Oh, of course you aren't. You are both with Miss Beckett I see."

"Miss Beckett?" Kate asked.

"Does Miss Beckett have…Um…really big…"

"Castle! Don't you dare ask."

Alexis giggled. "No. She was born just before genetic modifications were approved. You both are mod free, as they say."

"So, we're together?" Castle asked, glad to get onto a safer topic.

"You write mysteries and she writes legal thrillers. I guess it was natural that you'd get together."

"So, I'm not a cop in this Earth?"

Alexis frowned. "No. Why would you give up a legal and literary career to be a cop?"

"So, my mom is still alive?"

"Grandma Jo? Of course. Did something happen to her in your world?"

"What about Senator Bracken?"

"Senator who? Never heard of him."

"He was an Assistant DA in New York, then a Congressman and then a Senator. William Bracken."

Alexis laughed. "You mean Bill Bracken, our doorman?"

"Doorman?" Castle and Beckett said together.

"Bracken was an ADA in New York, but he got involved with a girl who was under aged, although she sure didn't look under-aged." Alexis shook her boobs which Castle found very disturbing. "Some guys stop thinking when they see these." Alexis finished. "Dad knew the guy from playing poker with him and Senator Weldon, so Dad got him a job as our doorman. Dad's kind of soft hearted that way." Alexis shook her head. "Senator Bracken? Wait until I tell him."

"You can't tell anyone. They'll think you're crazy." Rick turned to his friends. "What are we going to do? Normally we'd take her back to her correct Earth, but this is her correct Earth. What if someone else comes after her?"

"She needs a bodyguard." Rodgers said.

"Preferably a gay eunuch." Castle muttered.

They called Marlowe and his partner over to ask about bodyguards.

"I got just the guy for you. Best bodyguard on the West Coast. "Bam Bam" Perlmutter. Nothing gets by that jamoke." Marlowe told them.

They agreed to hire the jamoke, as Marlowe called him, and decided to wait inside until he showed up.

"How long have you been with Mr. Marlowe?" Simone asked McGruff.

"Ever since I was born. We're a team in every sense of the word."

Simone frowned. "In every sense of the word? What does that mean?"

"We're married."

Simone managed to keep a straight face. "I hope you're very happy together."

Back on the Moon, Castle explained to Metford what had happened next. "It turns out that "Bam Bam" Perlmutter looks like Arnold Schwarznegger from the neck down and like our ME from the neck up. He's guarding Alexis now. Along with a new housecat for Alexis. But what are we going to do about her? What if someone comes after her?"

"Our technical people have figured out a way to track anyone moving through the universes that aren't from here. If anyone goes after any Alexis, we'll know about it and arrange a surprise for them."

When Castle and his friends left Metford's office to go back to their lunar condo, Kate could tell he was upset. "Problem, lover?"

He shook his head. "Not really. I just can't imagine myself, any of myselves, letting Meredith order Alexis with those giant…"Castle found he couldn't say the word.

"Boobs." Kate finished for him.

"Boobs." He said. "How can Meredith have made Alexis into some kind of a…bimbo?"

"Castle, she isn't a bimbo. She seemed like a very level headed young lady and she does have a genius IQ. Okay, she had painted on clothing, but so did that blonde that was with her. It's a local fashion statement. It's the sort of thing a young girl wears because her parents hate it. I did things just because my parents hated them." She grinned. "And a long time ago, I did things because I knew you'd hate them. " She stroked his cheek. "You know, the Alexis's we've met have been pretty good people. Some were a little wild, but none of them were evil. I think the Rick Castles have done a very good job at raising their daughters."

Rick smiled. "Remind me to tell Alexis what a great daughter she is when we get home. And let me tell you what a great wife you are."

"Couldn't you show me instead?"

So he did.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16, Alexis's in Wonderland

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: More of the Castle I do not own. Rating: M, in places. Not this one, though. More of a K. Time: After Four of a Kind.

 **Chapter 16: The African Queen.**

"Africa?" Castle said. "The land of warlords, failed states, blood diamonds and child soldiers? You're kidding." He shook his head. "Of course, you're _not_ kidding. Why would I ever think you were kidding?"

Metford glowered at Castle from behind his desk. "If I may proceed?"

"Like we could stop you?" Kate murmured.

Metford did his best to smile. "We'll take a look at your transportation and then we'll get you your virus shots."

They followed him to the red square where sat a small, steel hulled boat. "The craft is fifty two feet long and is driven by a diesel engine which looks like a local steam engine. As with all of the transport we've provided for you, this is far more advanced than it would appear to the casual observer."

"What's with the mast?" Rodgers asked. "I don't see any sails."

"There's a crow's nest on top. The mast is for observation purposes only." Metford then droned on about the boat itself.

The only thing that interested Rodgers was the weapons suite the boat carried, two Maxim machine guns, mounted fore and aft with bolt action rifles, British Lee-Enfields, and automatic pistols, Colt M 1911A1s, for each of the crewmembers. In addition there were two Holland and Holland elephant guns, chambered for the .577 Nitro Express cartridge.

"Elephant guns?" Rodgers asked.

"Or maybe Tyrannosaurus Rex gun?" Castle asked sarcastically.

Metford nodded. "An elephant gun, if you will, or for rhinos, or hippos, or any of a number of large, powerful predators found in your own Africas." He smiled again, which always gave Castle the willies. "Shall we see about your virus shots?"

As usual, they sat on the boat and Rodgers went over what they had learned about their destination. "Again, no one earthshaking event that changed everything, just a million small changes that makes this Earth totally different from ours. In this case, Africa is still largely unexplored and un-colonized by Europeans. The British do hold the tip of southern Africa, the French have some of Algeria and Senegal, the Belgians have the mouth of the Congo River, and the Portuguese hold the coastline of Angola and Mozambique. The Italians and Germans are sniffing around Africa, but haven't made any claims yet. So, we'll be on the Nile all by ourselves.""

"All in all, the level of technology is about 1900 or so." Becks added.

"But the Nile itself is different." Castle noted. "Lake Tanganyika drains south into the Nile, making the river about a thousand miles longer. And the Sudd, the ginormous swamp in the southern Sudan, is even bigger and harder to cross than in our Earths. We'll be south of the swamp, but if we have to try to find a way north, we'll be in trouble."

"Volcanoes." Simone said softly.

"Of course they have volcanoes." Castle said. "And headhunters and cannibals and big, hungry prides of lions."

"And Alexis." Kate added, before Castle lost it.

He nodded. "And Alexis."

There was a flash of blue light and they found themselves on another Earth.

Rodgers fired up the engine and the headed up the Nile, a nice wide river at this point.

"We didn't name the boat." Castle suddenly said.

"Metford did it for us." Rodgers replied. "He must be an old movie buff. Were on the _African Queen_."

"Like the movie with Bogart and Katherine Hepburn?"

Rodgers nodded.

"At least we have enough Kates on board." Simone joked. No one laughed.

"Metford's people put a satellite up over this world. We have a really good map and recon photos from space. It looks like there's a fair sized city a maybe three or four days up the river. We'll head for there. If I was going to stay in this dump, I'd go to a city."

The first day was entirely uneventful. The second day was not.

"We have company." Castle called down from the crow's nest. "There's a whole tribe on the shore up ahead. A couple of hundred easily." He slid down a line to the deck.

Kate and Simone manned the forward machine gun and Becks and Rick took the rear gun.

Rodgers stood well out in the middle of the river, and watched the people on the shore through binoculars. "What the hell?"

"What is it?" Kate asked.

"We aren't the only white people around here. There are two on the bank, waving like crazy."

"Trap?" Simone suggested.

"We'll go find out. Keep the guns ready people." He turned the boat to the shore.

From fifty yards or so from shore they could see two men jumping up and down and yelling, "Haloooo! Over here!"

Rodgers felt the _Queen_ touch bottom and killed the engine. "Hello, yourselves. Come aboard. This is as close as I can get."

Two bearded men, dressed worn, faded khaki splashed out to clamber aboard. The taller one held out his hand to Rodgers. "Malcolm Thorburn, your servant sir, of the Oxford African Expedition, now much reduced."

The shorter man cleared his throat.

Thorburn blushed under his tan. "And of course my companion, Corporal Jones, French Foreign Legion."

The five nodded knowing they had seen Jones before under a different name.

"And a foine day it is, sor." Jones said, in a thick Irish brogue.

"Is this a joint Anglo-French expedition?" Kate asked.

Thorburn swept off his hat. "Egads! A lady! Out here?"

"By me soul." Jones said. "Three ladies."

"Mrs. Castle, Mrs. Rodgers, my wife, and Mrs. Renoir."

Rodgers went through their cover stories, first about he and Rick being twins separated shortly after birth and marrying twins, who had a sister, and that they were searching for a lost American expedition.

"I had no idea there was an American expedition in Africa." Thorburn said.

"A small one. Too small, I'm afraid. And your expedition? Or expeditions?"

"Alas, I'm afraid the Oxford Expedition was too small as well. Between the fevers, the natives and the animals, there's just me and Fraser. Poor chap has the fever, but he seems to be getting better."

"So the Corporal wasn't with you?"

"No, sor." Jones replied. "Oi was in a battalion de marche of the Legion. Trying to get to the headwaters of the Nile we were. We wuz in a bit o' a scrap wi' some slavers from the Soudan a week or so back. Me an' private Schiller an' Private Mohammed got cut off, ye see. An' then we met up wi' the perfesser here. The natives ha' been takin' care o' us on account o' we drove off the slavers, but they ain't got much to spare."

"We're headed south, so why don't you join us."

"Suits me right well, sor." Jones said and hopped off the boat. He returned with the others, and their weapons and equipment. Schiller was a skinny youngster, blond and Germanic to the core. Fraser was emaciated and could just barely walk. Mohammed was a large and smiling black man, but looked like he had lost weight recently. He wasn't a Legionnaire, but one of the Tirailleurs Sénégalais, locally recruited African troops. Rodgers noted that between them they had three French Lebel rifles, two British Lee-Enfields and several pistols. He wondered how much ammo they had. And food.

The locals seemed to be happy to see their guests leave, so they did so rapidly.

Jones stood waving at them as they headed up stream. "Nice folks, but short of food. Them slavers will be back soon, too. Wouldn't care to be in their boots when they do."

"An Irishman named Jones, Corporal?" Castle asked.

The Irishman laughed. "Back in Derry I'm known as Kevin Ryan, but I got into a ruction wi' an Orangeman an' takin' a sea voyage seemed a good idea. Oi ended up in France wi' no word o' French an' no work. The Legion seemed like a good idea. But," The Corporal looked around him. "This is no Ireland."

They discovered that Schiller spoke no English nor did Mohammed, but Fraser spoke enough for all of the rest of them. Fraser had been to Africa twice before, searching for the headwaters of the Nile, while Thorburn had never been away from England before.

Fraser relaxed in the back of the _Queen_ and talked about his prior trips to Africa. To avoid the swamps of the Sudd, they had gone overland from Zanzibar until they hit the Nile and assembled a small steamer that they'd had portaged to the river. Alas, the steamer had hit a rock about two months prior, sinking along with most of their supplies and three of their companions.

"But we've traveled further up the Nile than anyone else. That'll be something to tell the Royal Geographic Society when we get back. And Frobisher can sit in Oxford and study his ancient maps and bleat all he wants about the headwaters of the Nile being a giant lake closer to Capetown than Cairo. Nonsense. Arrant nonsense. Why, we may even find that lost city that Frobisher says is just a legend."

Castle, remembering the city shown on the orbital photos, perked up. "Lost city? Is there a lost city somewhere around here?"

Fraser shrugged. "Rumors, old boy. Oh, Cairo or Zanzibar are full of chaps who met an Arab who met a Masai who met a chap who met another chap who met another and so on and so forth, who told them all about a fabulous lost city, full of gold and jewels, just waiting to be picked up."

"Gold, sor?" Jones said, a bit of greed tinging his voice. "Just waitin' to be picked up like? Is it true?"

Fraser laughed. "If it was, the natives would have picked it clean centuries ago. The locals know the value of gold, they know it very well. But, finding the remains of a city would make our names, eh, Thorburn?"

Thorburn nodded. "Getting back to England will make my name as far as I'm concerned."

"So, there's no proof of any such city?" Simone asked.

Fraser shrugged. "Oxford has a copy of a letter written in 1592 by a Portuguese Don, Don Paulo Vargas. He claimed he'd crossed Africa from Mozambique to Angola, taking four years to do so and found a city filled with white people in Central Africa. The letter's genuine, but those old boys loved to tell tall tales about unicorns, men with one leg, Amazons and such. I'd forget about dreams of riches, Corporal. That's nothing but an old African legend."

They stopped on a small island the next day to cut wood for their engine. The engine appeared to be a conventional, for that era, a steam engine and not a modern diesel, but the engine could convert the wood into a form of ethanol that the diesel could use.

"Company coming. Hurry back." Kate called down from the crow's nest. Castle, Jones and Thorburn, who had been cutting wood, grabbed their axes and ran for the boat. Coming towards them they could see a large war canoe, made from a single hollowed out tree, filled with some fifty spearmen. The men shouted and waved their spears.

"Should I give them a burst?" asked Kate, now back at the bow Maxim.

"Fire in the water in front of them and try to warn them off. "Rodgers replied.

Before Kate could fire, nature took a hand. A baby hippo rose from the river bed and bumped the canoe. One of the spearmen slashed at him, bringing the mother, a ton and a half of angry momma, slamming into the canoe, capsizing it and throwing the men into the water. The momma hippo attacked the men in the water which attracted the attention of crocodiles on the river banks. Only one man escaped by swimming quickly to the island. He took one look at the boat and ran in the other direction.

"I didn't know hippos could do that." Rodgers said. "Be that aggressive, I mean."

"They're very aggressive." Castle told him. "If anyone sees a hippo coming towards us, open fire."

"Research?" Kate asked.

He shook his head. "Field trip to the Bronx Zoo in the seventh grade."

They had to shoot a few crocodiles that had swum to the island, but they managed to get a good load of wood and continued their journey upstream.

On the morning of the fourth day an old African legend appeared.

"Deck!" Simone called from the crow's nest. I can see around the next bend. There's a ship waiting for us. Some kind of a… what do you call those ships with all the oars?"

"A galley?" Castle called back.

"Right. That's what it is."

They came around the bend, to find the galley waiting for them.

"What do we do now?" Castle asked.

"They're not shooting at us, or anything. I say we go talk to them." Rodgers said.

"In what language?"

"I know a bit of the local languages." Fraser volunteered. "If all else fails, we can mime what we want to say, or something."

Rodgers noticed that while the Englishmen were interested in talking, the French had quietly picked up their rifles and fixed their bayonets.

"Easy, Corporal." Rodgers said.

The _Queen_ stopped about fifty yards from the galley and anchored. Soon, a group of men gathered at the galley's railing to stare down at them.

"Fraser," Castle said, "you may have to revise some of your ideas. Those guys are Caucasians, no doubt about it. And I imagine if you tried to pick up any loose gold or jewels, you'd get a spear in you." The original gawkers had been joined by a dozen or more men in chain mail, carrying spears.

After a hurried conversation by the men on the galley, a small boat was lowered and went to the _Queen._ Onto her deck stepped three men wearing togas. One, grey haired and dignified was fairly obviously in charge. If he was the brains, the other two had the look of muscle. Young, bulky and very suspicious. The older man said something that Castle didn't understand.

To everyone's surprise, Fraser answered him and had a short conversation before he turned to the _Queen's_ crew. "By God! They speak Latin! A strange sort of Latin, but I can understand them. They want us to follow them to their city. A city. A lost city in Africa. We've found it!"

"I saw the movie." Castle muttered.

"Easy, babe. " Kate said, sliding her arm around him.

The older man was introduced as Marcus Tulio Antonius. His bodyguards weren't identified. After a brief chat, he decided to remain on the Queen as he had never seen a ship that would move with neither sails nor oars. Antonius and Fraser, now joined by Thorburn who also spoke Latin, talked for hours. Finally Fraser told everyone what he had learned.

"These people are descendants of Marc Anthony's legions. After Marc Antony and Cleopatra were defeated by Octavian, the first Roman Emperor, most of Marc Antony's legions were disbanded or incorporated into Octavian's forces. But some, with their families, fled down the Nile. These are their descendants. This is magnificent." Fraser and Thorburn went back to chatting with Antonius.

The _Queen_ soon out ran the galley, but in only a few hours found themselves approaching Rome, as the ancient fugitives had christened their new city.

"No seven hills." Castle said. "But they have a nice city wall and what look to be fine marble buildings. This is probably what Rome looked like two millennia ago."

"Have you been to Rome?" Kate asked.

He nodded. "I'll take you sometime. It's a very romantic city." Castle grimaced when he realized what he said.

"Meredith or Gina?" Kate asked. "Or someone else?"

"No one nearly as important as you are. No one I could possibly have loved as much as you."

"Nice save, Writer Boy."

"Writer Man."

Antonius spoke to Fraser who turned to the others. "He wants to take us to meet their queen. Her name is Cleopatra." Fraser and Antonius spoke briefly. "Apparently all of their Queens are named Cleopatra and all the kings are named Ptolemy. Fascinating."

They attracted quite a crowd of followers as they walked through the city. After they had gone a block, their way was blocked by the idle curious. Eventually a detachment of palace guards showed up to push everyone back so that the procession could continue.

When they arrived at the palace they hardly noticed it. What they did notice was the redhead waiting for them in the middle of a mob of ladies in waiting and other hangers on.

"Alexis?" Rick said. She was wearing more make up than he was sure she'd ever worn, plus more jewelry than he'd ever seen and a diaphanous silk gown that revealed way too much of her for his peace of mind, but it was Alexis.

"I'm called Cleopatra now, Daddy." She said in English. Then she looked over his shoulder and saw Rodgers and two Kates. "Who the hell are you?"

As quickly as he could, Castle explained what had happened. Fraser and Thorburn looked shocked and Jones looked puzzled.

"An alternate universe?" Alexis said, nodding. "I thought that might be the case. Nothing else made sense."

"You know about alternate universes? From your dad?" Castle asked, hoping this was the right Alexis.

"Duh! Not likely. Professor Sandborn at Stanford has some theories about there being alternate universes. I took a class from him and read his book."

"How did you end up here? As Cleopatra?" Rodgers put in.

"Two idiots grabbed me on my way back to my apartment and then there was this flash of light and here we were. Said idiots apparently weren't supposed to come to the middle of nowhere in Africa and while they were arguing about who was to blame, they got attacked by crocodiles. I ran. I hadn't gone a hundred yards before I ran into the locals."

"Yeah, but how did you become a queen so soon?" Simone asked.

"The local dynasty is inbred as all hell. They only marry their relatives to keep the kingship in the family, so to speak. But, they haven't been able to give birth to any girl children, and very few males. When I showed up, wading out of the Nile, they decided I was a gift from the gods and made me Queen Cleopatra. The rest is history as they say."

"How can you be Cleopatra when you're redheaded and fair?" Becks asked. "You're not Egyptian. And you don't speak Latin."

"Neither was Cleopatra." Castle said. "Alexander the Great, a Greek, or Macedonian, if you prefer, conquered Egypt and when he died, one of his generals, named Ptolemy, grabbed it. So the original Cleopatra, who was Cleopatra VII, by the way, was a Greek and was thought to be a redhead. And I had four years of Latin in high school. I'm very good with Languages."

"Besides, the locals were getting desperate." Alexis said. "They probably would have declared me to be the gift of the gods and Queen Cleopatra no matter what I looked like."

"Great. Now we can get out of here." Castle said.

"There's one problem. You're black friend." Alexis said quietly. "The local Romans have been fighting the African tribes here for two thousand years. Any African who they capture goes to the arena."

"The arena? You mean like gladiators?"

"I mean exactly like gladiators." Alexis confirmed.

Castle looked around, but Private Mohammed was gone.

Alexis invited them inside and ordered food for everyone. While they ate, they tried to decide what to do about Mohammed.

Jones was adamant that they not let Muhammed die. "The legion don't leave anyone behind, ever. We even recover our dead." Schiller, apparently agreed, but as he spoke no English and none of them spoke German, it was hard to say.

Fraser and Thorburn only wanted to stay in Rome and learn all that they could, figuring that sooner or later an expedition would come along.

None of the _Queen's_ original crew wanted to leave Mohammed behind, but their job was to rescue Alexis after all. They could do that by just taking her hand and asking for a recall.

"Which will probably get the rest of them killed." Castle muttered to Kate.

"There is a possible way out." Alexis suddenly said.

"What?" Five people said in unison.

"The Roman generals like to pit Africans armed with their own weapons against gladiators armed with Roman weapons. If we can get him a rifle, he should survive, initially at least. What will happen after that, I don't know. They may try to shoot him full of arrows from a distance or something."

Rodgers smiled. "I think I have an idea."

With Alexis' help, Mohammed was given an unloaded Lebel rifle with the bayonet affixed, which they managed to convince the Romans at the arena was a spear. Jones provided Mohammed with all of the 8mm ammunition they had for the rifle, some seventy five rounds.

After spending a very worried night, the five friends had breakfast with Alexis and then went off to the arena.

"Try to keep your breakfast down." Alexis warned them as they arrived at the queen's private box, the best seat in the house. "These things are bloody. Bloodier than I ever imagined."

Kate shrugged. "Becks and I were homicide cops, Castle has been my partner for years, Rodgers was a soldier and Simone lived on a fairly violent Earth. I think we'll be okay."

They managed to keep their breakfasts down, but they hardly enjoyed the spectacle. First, a group of Roman criminals was sent into the arena. They had obviously been beaten up and starved before they were sent in and they had no weapons. A half a dozen starving lions were then let loose into the arena. The men ran madly around, looking for an escape when there was no escape. One by one they were all killed by the lions until only one man was left. The lions, now no longer hungry, ignored him as he cowered against the wall of the arena. The crowd began booing, which didn't seem to bother the lions in the least.

"Will they let this one live?" Castle asked.

Alexis turned to one of her handmaidens sitting beside her and raised an interrogative eyebrow.

"No, Your Majesty. This man is a bandit and a murderer. He must die. The arena officials are conferring now.

After a few minutes, an archer stood on top of the arena wall and fired an arrow into the man's leg. He screamed and then screamed again when he saw what had been let loose in the arena. A pack of hyenas ran out, sniffed the air, saw the lions feeding and decided on easier prey. The hyenas were feeding on his corpse in minutes. Once the men had been eaten, heavily armored horses and riders drove the animals back under the arena to their cages.

"The animals have been doing this for a long time." Alexis said quietly. "They know if they go back quietly, they'll get fed again soon enough."

Castle was staring at his feet. "I saw a bullfight once and I thought that was bad, but this…."

Kate took his hand. "Stay calm. We have to be ready."

The next fight was between humans, but Mohammed wasn't involved. Two dozen Africans armed with short stabbing spears with only a hide shield for protection faced an equal number of gladiators. The gladiators had chain mail hauberks that covered them from neck to knee, helmets and a large, round shield. They were armed with a long spear, a sword and a dagger.

Apparently the Africans knew what to expect and had made a plan. While the gladiators were in a loose skirmish line, the Africans bunched together. Three of them immediately rushed one gladiator while the others attacked the remaining Romans. The single gladiator tried to move back to the safety of his comrades, but was always blocked by one or more Africans. Within a half a minute he had been wounded in his shield arm and then slashed across the face. The other gladiators made a concerted rush for him, but one African pushed the man's shield aside, and stabbed him in the neck. As blood poured out of the wounded man, the crowd screamed in rage and the remaining gladiators methodically butchered their remaining enemies.

All of the Africans died for the death of one Roman and the wounding of two others.

"I sure as hell hope this works. The crowd is out for blood now." Rodgers said.

Luckily, Mohammed wasn't next. Alexis explained that while food sellers moved through the crowd, providing lunch for anyone who hadn't brought their own, a single rider armed with a lance, fought a Cape Buffalo. The horse and rider were obviously well trained and had done this many times. By the time lunch was over, the buffalo was dead.

The crowd was in a much better mood when Muhammed and two dozen Africans were led out to face a similar force of gladiators. Mohammed looked up, found his friends and waved. They waved back, causing a stir in the crowd.

As the gladiators began moving from the other end of the arena, Mohammed took careful aim and shot the nearest one. The slug punched through his shield, his chain mail and out his back. Every few seconds, there was a shot and another dead gladiator. The other warriors began advancing on the Romans who fell back. After firing ten rounds, Mohammed had to reload, a slow process with the Lebel which had to be loaded one round at a time. But by this time the gladiators were in no mood to charge anyone, but began running to the jeers of the crowd. Mohammed killed most of the gladiators, but got help from the other Africans.

As the crowd looked on in stunned silence, Fraser rose to speak in Latin. He told the crowd that there were other people moving into Africa to whom the weapon they had just seen was a mere toy. To demonstrate, Rodgers and Rick hauled a Maxim gun from the back of the Queens box seats where they had hidden it the night before. They fired a long burst into the sand of the arena, not hitting anyone but impressing the whole audience.

Alexis, in her role as Queen Cleopatra, rose and told the crowd that what Fraser had said was true and that they had best make friends with all of the strangers who had arrived in the boat that moved with neither sails nor oars. While some of the strangers remained in Rome to teach the army new ways, she would go on a diplomatic mission with the rest of the strangers to find friends in the outside world.

"Do you think this is going to work?" Castle asked the next day as the original crew of the _African Queen_ boarded the boat.

"It has a good chance of keeping the Romans from getting forcibly incorporated in someone else's empire. Their metallurgy is good enough to make flintlock muskets and making gunpowder is easy. You need is ten percent sulfur, fifteen percent charcoal and, seventy five percent potassium nitrate. I hope that whoever they run into convinces them to drop slavery and those barbaric games."

"But we'll never know." Castle said glumly.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17, Alexis's in Wonderland

By UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Still not mine. Rating: M in parts. I'll tell you when. Time: After my fic Four of a Kind.

 **Chapter Sixteen: Panzerlied**

If Metford was overjoyed at finding that there was a surviving Roman city in Africa, he managed to conceal his joy. He debriefed Alexis and sent her on her way with some plausible cover story. Well, more plausible that being made queen of a Roman city in Africa on an alternate Earth.

The five were sent off to the lunar mansion to relax for two days.

On the morning of the third day they found new clothes laid out for them. Rick was not happy. "We never actually get to go to a nice place and now we get to go to someplace where we need…."He picked up the clothing…"mixed and matched camouflage fatigues. Kind of worn, too. And the boots are down at the heels as well. I don't like it."

"We got web gear for some kind of assault rifle, I'd guess." Rodgers added. "Pistol holster, canteen, medical kit, maybe a compass or GPS pouch. All kind of worn."

"We do get helmets and protective vests." Kate said, holding a vest up.

"Where the hell are we going?" Castle asked rhetorically.

He found out when they got to the red square.

"A tank?" Castle asked, uncertainly. "It's different from the Bradley Fighting Vehicle we had to hunt zombies with."

"Not a tank." Rodgers said.

"And those weren't zombies, babe." Kate added.

"Go ahead. Spoil my story with your fiendish logic."

"It's an armored reconnaissance vehicle and not one any of you would know about." Metford told them. "It weighs about twenty five tons, a little smaller than the Bradley we got for you. It has a fifty millimeter hypervelocity cannon and a coaxial 7mm machine gun by the main gun. The crew, luckily, is five people. Commander, gunner, driver and two dismounts who ride in the back. For weapons, you'll each have an 11mm handgun, an assault rifle firing a 7mm Short round as well as a machine gun firing a 7mm Long round and a four shot 30mm grenade launcher. As well as the usual medical kits, radios, etc." Metford smiled at them. "Now, we should go get your information virus shots."

Castle thought that Metford enjoyed sending them off to one hell hole after the other, but didn't say anything.

A half an hour later, they had their virus and Rodgers, as usual, was going over the information they had received. "It's our Earth up until Napoleon invaded Russia in 1812. In the Earth we're headed for, the French crushed the Russians at Borodino and captured the Russian Czar as well. After that, the Russians surrendered. Instead of losing most of his army retreating through the Russian winter, Napoleon and his army sat in Moscow, fed and housed by the Russians. When Napoleon and his army left in the spring of 1813, he left behind a Russia that was terrified of ever pissing off the French again."

"Which didn't last forever, but it did last for a good two generations." Becks added.

"Then Napoleon took his army into Spain and chased the British and Wellington out. By the winter of 1813, the French ran Europe. But the Royal Navy kept the French out of the rest of the world. The Brits grabbed off the other European colonies, French or not. The Spanish Philippines, the Dutch East Indies, the French Caribbean colonies and everything else."

"Including the US." Castle added.

"They sent Wellington and his army to America and the US became British colonies again." Becks confirmed.

"The Brits and French signed a peace treaty in 1817, which no one expected to last. However, it did, ushering in what's called the Long Peace. Oh, there have been wars. The English had a vast assortment of colonial wars. The Germans rose against the French in 1876 and got thoroughly stomped. The Russians and English fought in the 1890s when the Russkis tried to invade India from their newly conquered colonies in Central Asia. But these were limited wars. Everything went well until 1984."

"1984?" Castle asked. "George Orwell?"

Kate laughed and Rodgers shook his head. "The Brits and the Russians were trying to grab as much of China as they could. Not the China we know, but more like the China of the 1920s. No real central government, just a bunch of warlords. A small skirmish between pro-Russian and pro-British Chinese troops dragged regular British and Russian troops in and before you knew it, they were at war. The French, for whatever reason backed the Russians. The war has lasted for thirty years."

Becks nodded." And the two sides are just about even. The British have the most powerful navy and a technological edge, but the French and Russians have more people. And the current Emperors, Jerome Napoleon III of France and Alexander VI of Russia are two of the biggest losers you could imagine. And because everyone there still believes in the divine right of kings, they run things. They mostly run things into the ground."

Rodgers took over. "The war has been fought all over the world, from the Arctic to the Antarctic using everything but nuclear weapons which haven't been invented. Both sides are falling apart, there are rebellions from their subject peoples and thing are generally shit all over."

"And we get to go to Texas." Castle added.

"The Dominion of Texas." Rodgers corrected. "The Brits didn't let the American colonies become one political unit. Each colony is separate. The US isn't as populous as in our era, since the Brits wouldn't allow any immigration from Europe. However, the Russians invaded from Alaska which they still owned, the French sent troops into French speaking Quebec. And Mexico, never happy with being dominated by the English colonies to the north, declared war on the British and invaded what to us is the Southwestern US."

"And, southerners, never happy about the British Empire freeing their slaves in 1833, also rebelled. British North America is one big, unhappy shooting gallery." Kate finished.

Metford interrupted them. "You've been issued weapons, ammo, food, water and all other consumables. Time to go."

They mounted their vehicle that had been carefully positioned on the red square. There was a flash of blue and the Moon around them disappeared.

"Miles and miles of nothing but miles and miles." Rodgers said from the turret. "We're in Texas all right."

"Any idea where?" Castle called over the intercom from the rear of the vehicle.

"According to the map in the on board computer, were about a hundred miles north of the Gulf Coast between Houston and San Antonio, but a lot closer to San Antonio. And those places are little one horse burgs locally. But Metford put this Alexis and her kidnappers headed west from Houston towards San Antonio. We'll have to go look for her there."

They travelled until about an hour before sunset, then stopped to set up for the night. In case anyone was watching them, once it was dark, they moved about a mile away.

"Not that no one's going to notice a twenty five ton armored vehicle moving around." Castle said sarcastically.

"Lessons our chances of waking up tomorrow and noticing we're dead." Rodgers said quietly.

"I guess."

Each one had to take a two hour turn on watch as they had to sleep outside. Their vehicle was just too crowded to allow them to sleep inside. Rick had the last watch and was just about to stand up and wake the rest when a hand went over his mouth and a knife was at his throat. "No talk." A voice whispered in his ear.

It was over in seconds. Armed men poured into their camp and took the sleepers prisoner, stripping them of their weapons. One man, who appeared to be their leader spoke to them in a language that they didn't understand.

After about a half an hour, Castle could hear the sound of approaching armored vehicles, the clatter of the treads and a squeal when the vehicles changed directions. A tank came up over a hill, followed by other armored vehicles. The tank stopped some twenty feet away and a tall, spare man in camouflaged fatigues jumped from the turret and approached them. He stopped, smiled at them and bowed slightly from the waist. "Good morning." He said with a distinct British accent. "Allow me to introduce myself, Major Heinrich Zoeller, commanding Kampfgruppe Zoeller. And you are?"

They had a cover story all prepared and Rodgers began to tell it. "I'm Captain Rodgers, Louisiana Police Regiment. Your men should have our IDs. " While most of the South was in the hands of rebels, New Orleans and much of Louisiana was held by British troops and local loyalists. The Louisiana Police Regiment had been raised out of various military and civilian police as a para-military internal security force. Rodgers went on. "We're searching for an Alexis Castle. She's been kidnapped."

Zoeller laughed. "She must be a fascinating young lady to bring Louisiana Police so far from home. I'd love to meet her."

"One of her relatives is an intelligence asset A quite important one, or so I've been told."

"But you have no idea who that asset is, of course."

It was Rodgers turn to smile. "Need to know."

Zoeller laughed again. "And no one who actually needs to know ever gets to know, isn't that always the way of it?"

Rodgers nodded. "Are we your prisoners, Major?"

"Prisoners? Oh, bloody hell, no. I'm the commander of the Third Battalion, Royal Tank Regiment, King's German Legion. We're British, old boy. Surprised you didn't know."

"Obviously we didn't need to know. And, frankly, it's hard to tell who's who anymore." Rodgers tried to put enough disgust in his voice to be convincing.

For the first time, Zoeller looked closely at the other four. "I say. Who are these people with you? The young ladies especially."

Rodgers put his arm around Becks protectively. "This is my wife, Rebecca Rodgers."

Becks smiled. "Everyone calls me Becks."

"That's my twin brother, Rick Castle and his wife, my wife's twin sister, Katherine Castle."

"Call me Kate."

"I'm the little sister. Simone Renoir. From Nawlins."

"You're twins and you have the same first name and different last names? Odd, I think."

Rodgers explained their cover story, how their father had died before their birth and the mother soon after, then they were adopted by different families who gave them the same first name. "It is a bit odd, sir, I'll admit."

"Oh, it's about to get a lot bloody odder, Captain. A lot bloody odder." He turned to a radioman who was squatting behind him. "Call Captain MacBeth and get her here, if you please."

Zoeller smiled at them as if he knew some funny joke that they had no clue of.

It turned out he did know something they didn't. Castle saw her first, striding towards them, dressed in combat boots, a Black Watch kilt and a camouflage shirt with a Glengarry bonnet perched on her head. Her hair was short and the same shade of reddish brown as when he had first met Kate Beckett. But there was no doubt in his mind that they had found another Kate Beckett.

"You wanted me, sir?" She asked.

"I think I may have found some relatives of yours. Captain Caithlain MacBeth, may I introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Castle, she's Kate, Mr. and Mrs. Rodgers, she's Becks, and Miss Simone Renoir. Captain Macbeth commands, well, what's left of the Second Battalion, Royal North Carolina Highlanders. Well, what do you think, Caithlain?"

Whatever expression Caithlain had on her face, Castle was sure it wasn't joy at meeting what she must have thought were long lost relatives. She just stared at them coldly. "It's no secret that my father got around and had a liking for the ladies. If that's all sir, I need to get back." Without waiting for a response, she turned and walked off.

"A difficult woman." Zoeller said.

Rodgers thought it best to change the subject. "A kampfgruppe is a temporary unit, Major. How big is your unit?"

Zoeller nodded. "We used to be a brigade, 17th Mechanized. But the West Kents and half of our artillery were sent north eight months ago and are still mucking about in Kansas or somewhere north of that. Six months back we had a series of fights with a Russian motor rifle regimental tactical group. We eventually smashed 'em, but they wore us down. We have two small companies of tanks, twenty three of them all together and two companies of the Highlanders in infantry fighting vehicles. We have some heavy mortars and other odds and sods. Plus we have a company of Cristeros, devout Mexican Catholics, mostly Indians, who have rebelled against Mexico and fight with us. They're the ones who caught you. We use them as scouts and they're bloody good. But, we're about a battalion all together." Zoeller's face brightened. "And we have an air drop scheduled for this afternoon. Ammo, fuel, food and other consumables. You can probably call the aircraft and send a message back to your lot in New Orleans."

Rodgers frowned. "I didn't get sent out here because the regimental commander loves me. All he wants to hear is either that I'm dead or the mission was a success." Colonel Montrose., the commander of the Louisiana Police Regiment was known for being totally ruthless about building his own wealth and power. He was equally ruthless at keeping spies, saboteurs and guerillas out of Louisiana. And no one thought he was a nice person.

Zoeller just nodded and walked off.

"What the hell is the King's German Legion?" Castle asked.

Oddly, Simone knew that one. "The first four British King Georges were also the Kings of Hanover, in Germany. Remember, Germany wasn't unified until 1871 in our timeline. When Napoleon over ran Hanover, a lot of people fled to England and were recruited into the British Army. They were called the King's German Legion. I'd say the same thing happened here, but since Hanover is still part of the French Empire, the British still have the Legion."

After the airdrop, Castle went to look for Caithlain Macbeth. He found her in front of an armored vehicle, sharpening a knife. "Hi."

She didn't look up. "What do you want?"

"Just to talk to you. It looks like we're related."

"Fuck off. I have no family."

"Look, I'm just trying to…"

She was standing with the knife at his throat before he realized what was happening. "I know what you're trying to do. You're trying to do to me what men have always wanted to do. Now fuck off or no one will ever find your body."

Castle fucked off. He hadn't gotten more than fifty yards when someone called to him. "Sergeant Castle?"

He remembered just in time that he was wearing police sergeant's chevrons. "Yes. What is it?"

The speaker was a tall, spare but muscular black man. "Corporal Brown. It's about Captain Macbeth. I'm her radio operator. She ain't a bad lady, she's just had a hard life. Her momma's an actress and her daddy left soon after she got pregnant. Never married her momma. The good folks, "Castle noticed that Brown used the term "good folks" sarcastically, "called her momma a whore and the Captain a bastard. Most of the men she's known have done nothing but tried to spread her legs since she was twelve."

"How'd she end up here?' Castle asked.

"Us North Carolina loyalists got whupped good at Albemarle. We retreated to the coast and the Royal Navy took them off the beaches. They were so desperate for anyone who could shoot that they gave her a rifle. Most of the "good folks" had rebelled against King Charles, so she as happy to shoot them. Been shooting them ever since. I wouldn't mess with her."

"Have you seen my wife?' Castle asked.

"No." Brown shook his head. "But I heard she and her sister look just like the Captain, except one woman has only one eye. That true?"

"Very true. And to me that means Captain Macbeth is family. And family means a lot to me. I'm not trying to mess with her. I'd like to help her if I can."

The corporal shrugged. "Your funeral." And walked away.

Castle walked back to his friends and told them what he had learned.

Kate, Becks and Simone looked at each other. "She's not going to want to talk to any man, but maybe we can get through to her."

Simone nodded. "I have some idea of what her life has been like. I want to help her. We should help her."

Rodgers looked up at the sky. "Sundown in a half an hour or so. We should eat and then go to sleep. We don't want to be walking through a darkened camp in case there are trigger happy sentries around. You can talk to MacBeth tomorrow."

They were woken before dawn by a sudden turmoil in the camp and one of Zoeller's officers calling to them to wake up. "Radio from command. San Antonio is under siege by Mexican troops and some Texas renegades. We need to chase them away before they shoot the town to bits." He smiled at them. "Nothing we haven't done before. They're an infantry heavy force, but little in the way of artillery or anti-tank." He glanced at the sky. "Or anti-air. "He pointed to four contrails high above them. "Royal Texas Air Force are going to pay them a visit. Should help." He began to walk away, then turned back. "By the way, as a recon vehicle you'll be in front with the rest of the recce people. And a squad of Cristeros will be riding on top of your vehicle. We leave in five minutes."

They bolted down some cold rations and all three women bitched about the lack of time to make coffee. When the Cristeros arrived, they asked that one of their number be allowed to ride inside. She looked to be in her early teens and was quite pretty.

As Castle was seated next to the machine gun strapped to the vehicle bulkhead, the girl sat next to Kate on a bench seat. She smiled shyly at them and then took out a Bowie knife and began sharpening it. As they bounced and rattled their way over the Texas prairie the day got hotter and everyone began to sweat. Rick and Kate noticed that their young passenger spoke some Native American language, a bit of Spanish and no English. But as she sharpened her knife, field stripped her assault rifle, and her pistol, cleaned hem and then reassembled them, she kept up a stream of happy chatter that neither Rick nor Kate understood.

The heat made Castle tired and the bouncing kept him awake. He was hungry, hot tired and needed to pee. The Cristero girl looked like she couldn't have been happier.

At noon they stopped for a meal and to pull whatever maintenance needed to be done. While they are, they looked up and saw four contrails heading back to the east. One turned and flew a circle over them and then raced on after its friends.

One of Zoeller's officers came by to brief the Cristero officer in Spanish, then turned to Castle and his friends. "The RTAF gave them a good pasting, but with only four aircraft, they couldn't do that much. We'll stop tonight about fifteen miles short of San Antonio and laager up for the night. We'll go after them at dawn.

After dinner, Kate, Becks and Simone went to talk to Caithlain Macbeth. Rick and Rodgers stayed by their vehicle. While they waited, some of the recce troopers near them sang softly in German.

"Ob's stürmt oder schneit, ob die Sonne uns lacht,  
"Der Tag glühend heiß, oder eiskalt die Nacht,  
"Bestaubt sind die Gesichter, doch froh ist unser Sinn, ja, unser Sinn.

"Es braust unser Panzer im Sturmwind dahin "

After a couple of verses an NCO came by and told them not to make any noise.

"What song was that?" Rodgers asked.

"Panzerlied. The song of the tankers." Replied a young, blond haired man. "We sing it before battle. For luck."

Another soldier spoke. "And Sergeant Wohl always stops us. For luck."

The soldiers laughed.

It was a half an hour before the women came back. "How did it go?" Castle asked.

The women sat down. "Not good at all." Kate said. "North Carolina is full of the socially very conservative types. Being born out of wedlock is a terrible thing to them. It means Caithlain's mother is a whore as far as just about everyone is concerned, and Caithlain is the bastard daughter of a whore."

Simone spoke. "She's been treated terribly her whole life until she was nineteen. She's hardly ever met a man who didn't try to rape her. I suspect that she has been raped, but she won't talk about it."

"What happened when she was nineteen?" Castle asked.

"The North Carolinians rebelled against the Crown. The local British garrison wasn't big and most of the local militia went over to the rebels. That's when someone handed Caithlain a rifle and let her start shooting her oppressors." Simone said bitterly. " _Couchons!_ Pigs!"

"You know you're not really a Frenchwoman from Nawlins, right?" Rodgers asked.

Simone just gave him a dismissive smile.

"We tried to tell her about how happy we were with our…men." Kate remembered that Rodgers and Becks weren't actually married.

"She didn't care." Becks continued. "She said that sort of thing would never happen to her. She'd never be able to trust a man enough to have any kind of a relationship."

"She has walls." Castle said. "Damn it! Jesus, does she have walls."

Before they could discuss Caithlain Macbeth and her problems any further, one of the sergeants came over. "You should all get some sleep. We sent a recon patrol of Cristeros out to check out San Antonio. Unless things are seriously screwed up, we'll mount up well before dawn."

Well before dawn turned out to be 3AM. Sergeants moved through the laager, waking everyone up. "Wakey, wakey. Hands off you cocks and into your socks. We move out in twenty minutes."

Everyone complained about not having any coffee, however, the Cristeros gave them some cold rice and beans for breakfast.

Zoeller came by and called them over. "Captain Rodgers, I have a mission for you. We had a helicopter come in last night with aerial photos of San Antonio." Zoeller opened up a map. "Here, to the south of the city is the enemy logistical base. Their vehicles, and supply dumps are here. I'm taking the bulk of the kampfgruppe around like this to flank them and over run their supplies. "But here," he tapped the map, "is a company sized force of the Mexican Army which will be on our flank. I want your vehicle to accompany two platoons of Cristeros, get on this hill here, and fire down onto them and keep them off of our backs. Any problems?"

Rodgers shook his head.

A dozen Cristeros crawled on top of their vehicles and several dozen more arrived in two pickup trucks and a large boxy armored personnel carrier with a very large machine gun on top. Their friend from yesterday got in with Rick and Kate and smiled at them, chattering in her own language all of the time.

"She should be going to a dance or something, not into a battle." Castle complained.

"I know, babe, but we can't do anything about it."

Heavy mortars began the attack. Looking down, Rodgers could see the Mexican company below them come suddenly alive as the rest of their battle group roared towards the Mexican supply dump. In the back of the recon vehicle, the young girl began to pound on the rear ramp and yelling, obviously asking to be let out to join her comrades.

"Can't we keep her in here?" Castle called up to Rodgers.

By way of an answer, the rear ramp dropped and the girl ran out. Castle and Beckett exchanged glances, then went after her.

"Castle, grab the machine gun. I have the grenade launcher."

Castle wrestled the weapon loose from the bulkhead and ran after Kate. "You know we really have nothing against those people down there."

"Except if they get up here, they'll kill us." She pointed down the hill. The enemy was moving up the hill, firing as they went. Castle sighed and let off a short burst of fire. And another. And another.

The counter attack fell apart almost as soon as it began and the enemy began to retreat, and then a rout began. They were running, throwing away weapons and equipment to run faster.

The Cristeros remounted their vehicles and some jumped on top of the recon vehicle, shouting and pointing to the retreating soldiers. They wanted Rodgers to chase them. As Castle and Beckett crawled into the back, their friend got in as well, smiling as is she'd had the best day of her young life. Castle had never seen anything sadder than that.

They rolled across the prairie, but Castle could see very little through the periscope. Finally, they stopped and the ramp dropped. The girl ran out. Castle and Beckett stepped out and looked around. There was evidence of a firefight all around. Bodies, dead and wounded, dropped weapons, spent shells, bloody bandages and unnamable trash.

"You lot!" A man yelled. "Over here. Yes, you two."

A soldier was working on several wounded men. He looked up at them. "Take this one in that stretcher over there and go to the aid station." He pointed to a collection of vehicles some hundred yards away.

They grabbed a soldier and put him gently on a stretcher.

"Not him, you idiots! He's only got a half a head left. He's dead. This one!"

They dropped the corpse and picked up the living and carried him away. When they had delivered the wounded man to the doctors, another soldier grabbed them and pointed to another wounded man. "Take this one over there." He pointed vaguely to a row of stretchers. No one was attending to those wounded.

"No one's treating them." Castle said.

"We can't save them. They've been given morphine to make their last few minutes comfortable. Now take him over there, damn it."

They put the soldier down gently. Castle's eyes strayed to another soldier, dressed in a different uniform next to him. "Crap! Javi? Javier Esposito?"

This Esposito had no legs at all from about the knees down and had dozens of small wounds in the torso. He didn't react to Castle, just looked at the sky.

"Javi?" Kate said softly.

"Go to hell, you British bastards."

That voice was familiar. Castle looked into the familiar blue eyes of Kevin Ryan. "Ryan?'

"Go fuck your…" He said no more.

Another soldier walked over and knelt by Esposito. "Nuevo Leon Light Infantry, First Battalion." He glanced at Ryan. "San Patricio Battalion. Saint Patrick's." He looked up at Kate and Rick. "Irish renegades who fight against the British Empire. Saves us from hanging him." He frowned at Rick. "You called him Ryan. Did you know him?"

Before Rick could speak, Kate tapped her hand against her police sergeant's stripes. "Louisiana Police Regiment. We knew him professionally." Then she led Rick away.

"Esposito keeps dying in front of me. And now Ryan." Castle said softly. "This is…"

"DADDY!" A girl's scream cut off what he had been about to say.

He whirled around just in time for Alexis to leap into his arms. "Daddy! You're here. You're here. And Kate, too."

The fact that this Alexis knew Kate told Castle that this was not the right Alexis. But, still, they had saved her. He walked her over to their vehicle and explained who and what they were.

"I thought it was some kind of nightmare." Alexis said, holding on tightly to Rick. "This Earth is just so...odd. . But you say it's an alternate Earth?"

Castle pulled her towards their waiting vehicle. "We can go over this whole thing later when we have you safe. When we have us safe, too, actually."

They climbed in the back and Castle called Rodgers on the intercom. "Let's get out of here and back to the Moon. We've got the Alexis we came looking for. No reason to stay."

"Negative." Came the reply. "These people helped us. The Cristeros went tear assing through the scrub. Good places for ambushes. We should give them some support."

"Really?" Castle asked, but he knew the answer already.

They pitched and rolled over the prairie and through the scrub. Castle heard the main gun fire twice and there were perhaps two dozen bursts from the coaxial machine gun. He could hear Rodger's running commentary. "Looks like a firefight ahead. Maybe a couple of platoons on each side going at it. I'm going to…Oh, shit! It's that crazy bitch MacBeth. She's standing up in plain sight and just begging to get shot. She's standing on a pile of rocks. I can get to about twenty feet from her. You willing to go after her?"

Castle and Beckett looked at each other. "Yes!" They both yelled.

As soon as the vehicle stopped and the rear ramp dropped, the two charged out. As Castle ran towards Macbeth, he saw her exchanging fire with someone behind a stunted tree. There were already two enemy bodies in front of the tree. What MacBeth didn't see was that another enemy had carefully crawled around to her side and was prepared to fire. Both the other soldier and Castle fired simultaneously. Castle killed he man with a burst the machine gun he still carried. Macbeth suffered a perforated canteen. Kate fired her grenade launcher at the tree, killing the last soldier.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Castle screamed.

"What do you care if I die or not?" MacBeth screamed back. "What have I got to live for? So that I can wonder if every man who looks at me is wondering what I'd look like naked and tied spread eagled to a bed?"

"I care because you're obviously family and I love my family."

"Liar! You don't love me. You couldn't."

"I can and I do. Ask my wife how I feel about family. Ask my two sisters in law. Ask anyone in my family. I love you, Caithlain MacBeth whether you like it or not. I. Love. You."

Castle saw that Caithlain was staggered by the words. Then he saw she had been staggered by a bullet. "She's been shot!"

"She's been hit in the chest. Just like I was." Kate yelled. She pulled open Caithlain's shirt. "No, not as bad as when I was shot. We have to get her to a hospital ASAP." Kate looked back at the hospital they had just left, now a mile or more away.

"Not there." Castle said. "We can get her back to the Moon. They have much better medical care right there."

They patched Caithlain as well as they could and carried her to the waiting vehicle. In all he confusion of battle, no one noticed an armored vehicle disappear in a blue flash.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18, Alexis's in Wonderland

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: The man who owns Castle? Not me. Rating: Some M. I'll tell you when. Time: After my Four of a Kind.

 **Chapter 18. Surf's up.**

"You can't send her back." Castle insisted loudly. "She was shot in the chest and she's had a hell of an awful life. She deserves some happiness. There must be somewhere you can send her, other than back to an endless war."

Metford raised his arms to try to stop Castle's tirade. "Mr. Castle, she wants to go back to her own Earth. We have to accept her wishes on the matter."

"She what? But Caithlain Macbeth has been talking to Kate, Becks and Simone. I'm sure they had her convinced that she could find a man who could love her and not just look at her as a damaged piece of meat."

"Go talk to her yourself." Metford said tiredly.

Castle got up and immediately started walking towards the small hospital at Metford's base on the Moon. One thing he could say for Metford and his society, they had excellent medical care and they were happy to care for Caithlain MacBeth. While Caithlian's wound wasn't as bad as Kate's had been, she was almost ready to be released after only two weeks.

Before he got to her room, he was intercepted by Kate. "You heard?"

He nodded. "It's true?"

"We thought she was coming around. We told her about you and me and Rodgers and Becks and even about the other Kates and Ricks we've met. We told her about societies where being the child of an unmarried woman is not the end of her world. We even got some information from Metford about places on other Earths where she could fit right in. But she wants to go back."

"Why? Why would she go back to a place where everyone thinks she's some kind of a social leper?"

"To change it." Kate replied.

"Change an entire society? Does she have any idea how hard that is?"

"Yes. She knows her home better than we do." She put her hand on his arm. "Rick, people have changed societies before, Martin Luther King, Gandhi, or Nelson Mandela."

Rick sighed. "Can I talk to her? Should I talk to her? Try to talk her into going someplace without a war and….everything?"

Kate kissed him. "You just want all Kate Becketts to be safe and happy, right?"

"I wish I could do just that."

"You can't, really, but that's one of the reasons I love you, Rick. Go talk to her."

Caithlain was relaxing in a private hospital room. Since she was almost ready to be discharged, she was dressed in a bright, flower printed dress and sandals.

"Hello, Rick. Come to talk me into going somewhere else?" She teased.

"I really wish you'd consider it."

She became serious. "Are you in love with me?"

Rick was taken aback, but answered truthfully. "I'm in love with all of the Kate Becketts out there, but not as much as I love my own Kate. I'm even in love with the ones I've never met and even the ones named Caithlain Macbeth. My Kate was so unhappy for so long, and I wanted so badly to make her happy, I guess I sort of over reacted when I found out there was another Kate out there who was unhappy, and then another and another and so on."

"It's not over reacting, it's sweet. But Kate and Becks and Simone and the others Kates somewhere out there have something in common. We're fighters. We don't give up. If my problem was mine alone, I might think about staying on a nice, peaceful, friendly Earth. But my whole society needs to be changed, or a lot of it does. I can't walk away from people who are in a situation like mine or even worse. I have to do something. "She smiled at him. "And maybe someday I can go up north to New York City and meet a Richard Castle of my own. There just might be one there waiting for me. You never can tell."

Rick took her hand. "I hope you do. You all deserve to be happy."

"Everyone deserves to be happy."

Castle kissed her gently on the cheek and left.

Later, the five of them met with Metford in his office.

"So, what hell hole do you have scheduled for us to go to this time?" Rick asked.

Metford smiled. "Mr. Castle, we're sending you to New York City, in fact to your very own loft. At Christmas time."

Castle's eyes lit up. "Christmas in the loft? In New York? A white Christmas with a Christmas tree, presents, and a huge Christmas feast?"

Castle frowned when he saw Metford's look.

"What?" He asked.

"We should get you your virus shots." Metford said.

"Global warming?" Castle screeched after the shots had taken effect.

Rodgers nodded. "The polar ice caps have melted, so has the Antarctic ice, the permafrost in Canada and Siberia is thawing and…."

"The weather forecast for Christmas Day in New York is….One hundred and four degrees?" Castle interrupted. "Christmas Day?"

Rodgers went on. "What's left of the human race lives in Siberia, Alaska and northern Canada. With some holding out in the tip of South America. And when the oceans began to rise, humans put up levees to keep the water out. Manhattan was completely protected by levees for many years."

"But no one could live in the summer in New York. "Kate added. "Plus it was too hard to get food and fuel to New York City. People all over North America started to flee to the north. They stopped repairing the levees and eventually they broke and New York flooded. Manhattan, with its skyscrapers is mostly above water, from about the third floor up."

"Manhattan's population is a few hundred scavengers." Simone added.

"What the hell can they find that's worth anything?" Castle muttered.

Not recognizing a rhetorical question, Rodgers replied. "There's high tech equipment from hospitals and engineering companies, scientific data from universities, all kinds of valuable things for a civilization that's collapsing. A ship comes down from the north every month or so and trades food, fuel, weapons and ammo for whatever the scavengers have."

"We've identified the two main scavenger gangs in Manhattan." Metford said. "One is called the Westies and is run by a man named Finn Rourke. The other is called the Blues and is run by a man called Ethan Slaughter."

"Oh, crap." Rick and Kate said together.

"Is there a problem?" Metford asked.

"We know both of them. We're not their favorite people." Kate finally said.

"I would imagine that Alexis' kidnappers would stay away from any large armed gang. Given the size of Manhattan Island, you should have no trouble avoiding anyone who doesn't like you."

"Yeah, like we avoided the man eating butterflies no one told us about." Castle grumped.

"We can't have perfect intelligence about every Earth, Mr. Castle." Metford shot back.

"We'll need a boat to get around Manhattan." Rodgers said. "Another PBR?"

"We have a better boat for you. We just "picked it up" from another Earth. It's a bit bigger than the PBR, but the best thing is that all five of you will sit inside an enclosed armored cockpit. You'll control the weapons from there. There are twin fifteen millimeter machine guns in the bow, port and starboard seven millimeter machine guns and a combination fifteen millimeter machine gun and sixty millimeter mortar in the stern. Just behind the cockpit are vertically launched anti-tank/anti-personnel missiles. Twenty four of them. You'll get your virus for the boat later. Oh, you'll also have a complete set of personal weapons."

"Sailing through burning Manhattan. Do they sell tee shirts? "I went to New York City and all I got was boiled alive?" Castle asked sarcastically.

"If you want to leave an Alexis Castle there, Mr. Castle, you can refuse to go." Metford said with a superior smile.

Castle just glared at him. Metford knew he'd do anything for all of the Alexis's and Kates out there.

Later that day their boat, named the _Proud Mary_ , edged up to Castle's loft on Broome Street. "Water's up to the third floor, but the windows are broken out. We can make this our base and start the hunt for Alexis. Rick, why don't you and Kate check it out?"

They were both dressed in boots, cargo shorts and tee shirts. Over the shirt they wore an armored vest with ceramic inserts. They carried extra ammunition, food, water, a medical kit and various other things. They were armed with a bullpup rifle/grenade launcher combination and a 9mm pistol.

As soon as they opened the air conditioned cockpit, the heat and humidity hit them. "Christ." Castle muttered. "Merry Fucking Christmas indeed."

"Come on, lover. Let's see what home sweet home looks like."

They entered the third floor, one floor below their loft. There was a foot of water in it. Castle hit his radio. "There's water in here. I bet the tide fills the place up when it comes in. I can see water marks almost to the top of the ceiling. And the place has been trashed. The door was smashed in and the place looks like it was…" Castle stopped when his foot hit something.

"What is…?" Kate began.

"There's a skull in here. The people in here were an older couple, at least in our Earth. They wouldn't have…"He stopped.

"Let's go up to the loft." Kate said softly, wanting to get Castle out of the wrecked loft just below theirs.

They went up the stairs and found their door also broken in. They looked inside. The water hadn't made it this far and the windows were intact, at least on this floor.

Rick walked to his office, curious to see if a Rick Castle had lived here and if he was an author as well. As he walked into the office, a club was swung at him, just grazing his head and a form jumped on him and started beating on him. He grabbed at the person and saw first the red hair and then the face of his daughter. "Alexis!" He yelled. "Quit hitting me."

Alexis jumped back. "Dad? Daddy? It's you?" She looked up. "And Kate? You both escaped?"

"Alexis, who's there?" Called a familiar voice from upstairs.

"It's okay, Lexi. It's Dad and Mom, they must have escaped. They're free!"

Rick and Kate watched as a second Alexis Castle came down the stairs.

In seconds Castle had two redheaded daughters clinging to him and crying, telling him how happy they were that they were together again. He really hated telling them the truth and spoiling it all.

Alexis, the one who lived on this Earth, as opposed to Lexi, who had been kidnapped from another Earth, stared at Castle. "You're from another Earth? Just like Lexi is?" Alexis shook her head. "If I hadn't met Lexi, I wouldn't have believed it."

"Look!" Castle said happily. "We can take you both back with us. You'll both be safe."

"No!" Alexis said sharply. "I can't leave my dad and mom behind. I can't leave them here."

Lexi nodded. "We have to try to get them away from the Blues."

"Why don't you tell us the whole story, from the beginning?" Kate asked.

Alexis took a second to gather her thoughts. "Things started to go bad before I was born, but people adapted. They built levees and dams. They developed drought resistant foods. New farmland further north was opened up. But each year things got worse. And each year more and more people fled north, where there wasn't enough room for the people already there."

"Millions and millions of people died." Lexi added.

"Mom and Dad stayed in New York because…"

"Your dad was still married to Meredith?" Kate asked.

Alexis smiled and shook her head. "No, Meredith lived in LA. I don't know what happened to her. Dad is married to you. Um, to Kate Beckett. They met when I was nine and fell in love. Anyway, Dad and Mom felt they had to stay in New York to protect people. When I was thirteen, there was some kind of a tipping point. Instead of getting a little worse each year, things started to get a lot worse. There were riots, looting…people just went crazy. Then the government in the north said they wouldn't take any more people. We were stuck here."

"And Slaughter runs the Blues? Won't he try to save your mom and dad?" Castle asked.

Alexis laughed bitterly. "He's the one holding them prisoner. He keeps Dad in a cell and he's made Mom his girlfriend. If she doesn't sleep with him, do everything he wants, he beats up Dad. He beats up Mom anyway, the bastard. He wanted me, but I managed to escape a month ago. I came here because Dad had a supply of food here and Kate had a pistol and a shotgun. I've been trying to figure out how to free Dad and Mom, and then a week ago, Lexi showed up."

Lexi nodded. "As soon as my kidnappers got here, there was a gunfight and I got away. I headed for home and found Alexis."

Rick and Kate exchanged glances. "So, we'll just have to rescue another Rick and Kate and sail off into the sunset."

"How are you going to do that?" Lexi asked.

"I have no clue. Luckily, I have another man with me who solves those little military problems for me. Gather up your weapons, food and whatever else you want to take and let's get back to the boat."

Alexis told Rodgers everything she knew about Slaughter and his operation. He had commandeered a fifty story office building near the southern tip of Manhattan for his headquarters. The building had its emergency generator's on the roof of the building, rather than in the basement as was more usual, so it hadn't been flooded. That meant that he had electrical power since he could trade for diesel fuel. He had some fifty men and women with him, armed with pistols, shotguns and assault rifles. His boats were civilian craft, the military having taken all of the armed ships north with them.

"We have one more advantage. Detective Ann Hastings. She was Slaughter's mistress before Mom was."

"And she wants her old job back?" Becks guessed.

"Hardly. She hates Slaughter and couldn't be happier not to have to sleep with him. She's been trying to find a way to get Mom, Dad and her out of Slaughter's building and to the north. Getting them out can be done, but getting to the north without one of Slaughter's boats is impossible. It may be impossible even with a boat."

Rodgers thought about it for a long time. "We'll need a few things from the Moon. But, I think we can do this."

"No!" Metford said. "Your mission on that Earth is done. You have the Alexis you were sent to get. Now we need to plan the next mission."

"You realize you'll be trying to keep two heavily armed Alexis's? Cold blooded killers, both of them." Rodgers lied. "This could get messy. What would happen if a couple of Alexis's got killed on your watch? And killed some of your people? Messy?"

Metford sighed. "We need to find a place for another Alexis, Castle, Beckett and this Hastings woman? You do realize that while there appear to be an infinite number of Earths, they're not all suitable for human life?"

"Oh, we noticed. It was the zombies that tipped us off." Castle added. "Or was it the killer butterflies?"

"And you'll need more equipment? And men?"

"Come one, Metford. We take all the risk and you get all of the glory. Go for it." Castle wheedled. "And just a couple of spare people. You can do it, big guy."

There were times when Rick felt, that in spite of all of his bitching, that Metford enjoyed getting involved vicariously in the trips to the alternate Earths and the schemes that they came up with. Whether that was true or not, Metford had come through.

In addition to their boat, they now had two muni-submarines, not much more than manned torpedoes, really and two four man crews to go with them.

Arriving back at the loft, Rick, Kate and Simone, along with the two Alexis's had moved back in while Rodgers, Becks and the sub crewman went to check out Slaughter's headquarters in the two subs and the boat.

"I hear an engine coming." Kate said.

"It can't be our boat. They just left." Castle replied.

Lexi ran to the window and looked out. "More scavengers, I think they must be independents. The Westies use green armbands and the Blues wear blue. Crap, they're headed right here."

Rick, Kate and Simone got the two Alexis's into the office and covered the doorway with their rifles. Soon they could hear men sloshing through the water on the floor below them, then the sound of boots coming up the stairs.

A voice sounded. "Alexis Castle? Come out, come out where ever you are? We know you're here. We saw you. Come on, sexy. We aren't going to hurt you. Hell, you'll enjoy it. Come here, little girl."

Two men carrying rifles edged into the loft and looked around.

"If you make us work for it, bitch, we'll fuck you up real bad when we're done with you. Now come the fuck out!"

Castle and Beckett fired at the same time, killing both men. Simone ran to an open window and fired a grenade into the boat tied up below. Rick and Kate ran to join her. Looking down, they saw a boat with three male corpses sinking slowly.

"Did anyone hear the shots, do you think?" Rick asked Alexis and Lexi, who'd come out of the office.

Alexis answered. "Probably not. There are just the two big scavenger gangs, but dozens of smaller outfits like this one. And gunfire isn't that unusual."

Lexi nodded. "We should collect their weapons. We only have a shotgun and a pistol between the two of us." She crossed the room with Alexis and began stripping the dead of their weapons.

"I hate the idea that there are Earths where Alexis Castle worries about whether she has enough guns and ammo." Castle said softly. "That just sucks."

"We can at least get two more Alexis's to someplace safe, babe."

It was well after dark when Rodgers, Becks and the sub crewmen came back.

"What happened?" Rodgers asked. "I saw a body hung up on the building. Who was it?"

"Some guys looking to rape Alexis." Castle said quickly. "We took care of it. What did you find out?'

"We scoped out Slaughter's HQ. He has eleven boats, nine powerboats and two are sailboats. He has a big cigarette boat that's his private yacht. And he's got a schedule. They're looting Columbia University Medical Center. We saw Ann Hastings from a distance, too. We need to get in touch with her."

Two nights later, Ann Hastings was checking the sentries as they removed valuable equipment from the medical center. It was just the sort of stuff that Finn Rourke would try to hijack from them. As she walked, she thought back to what she had been. _I was a cop and a good one, but then the world turned to shit. Slaughter is a vicious bastard, but so is Rourke and the other looters who got left behind. I'd love to put a round in Slaughter's skull for what he did to me, for what he's doing to Beckett and Castle. But one of his people would kill me. Probably kill Castle and maybe even Beckett. At least Alexis got away, although I'm not sure being alone in what's left of New York is better than here. Maybe she's okay, or at least she died quickly and painlessly. Shit! How can I…?_

She stopped and brought her shotgun up. A light had flashed ahead of her. She thought about calling for backup, but if it was nothing, Slaughter would go berserk for taking people away from the looting. She had too few sentries as it was.

She crept down a darkened hallway to a set of windows that had been broken out years ago, and stepped into what had once been a waiting room. She could see the light some distance away across the water.

"Hello, Ann."

She whirled around and brought her shotgun up. Then stopped and stared, open mouthed. "Beckett! How in the hell did you…." Then she stopped. "You're not Beckett. You don't have bruises and you're twenty pounds heavier than she is. Who the hell are you?"

"Kate Beckett."

"And I'm Rick Castle." Said another voice. Castle stepped out of the darkness and smiled at Hastings. "Good to see you again, Ann. And we are Rick Castle and Kate Beckett, just not the ones you know."

Hastings' hands tightened around the shotgun. _Am I finally going mad?_

"Could you point the shotgun somewhere else, Ann? I don't really want to get Kate or me killed. And you need to listen to us. We can help you. And the other Rick and Kate."

"The…other Rick and Kate?" Hastings said slowly. But she pointed the shotgun towards the floor.

"This is going to sound awfully, well, totally unbelievable, but it's true." Rick began.

Five minutes later Ann Hastings was convinced. Any chance at all to get out of this hellhole was worth taking.

"The best time to hit Slaughter will be tomorrow night. "She said. "After midnight sometime. There's a ship coming from the north to pick up what we have tomorrow. To trade with us. Once the trade is done and we're back here, Slaughter always has a party to celebrate. By midnight, everyone will be too drunk to fight."

"Where's the other Castle?" Rick asked.

"In the hole. Slaughter rigged up a cell at a little above the low tide level. When the tide comes in, the cell is flooded. Castle has to stay awake and upright or he'll drown. It's on the south side of the building so there's nothing to stop the incoming tide."

"Can you and Beckett get down to the hole at about midnight?"

"Sure. Kate can drink any three of Slaughter's people under the table and I don't drink much." She smiled. "Even though I'm no longer Slaughter's whore, he objects to any of the other men screwing me. I'm pretty much left alone at parties."

"Is there anyone else we should try to take out of here?" Kate asked.

Hastings thought about that, then shook her head. "Most of his people are ex-gangbangers. People who were his CIs when he was still a cop. The few cops he has with him are as bad as he is. Leave 'em all."

Rick sketched out their plan for Ann and then they dropped into the water. Their SCUBA gear was on a small ledge just below the water. They put it on and disappeared into the water.

The next twenty four hours was nerve racking. Castle thought of every possible and impossible worst case scenario. Suppose the ship from the north never came? Suppose the Westies tried to ambush the Blues? Suppose there was no party? Suppose neither Kate or Ann could getaway. Suppose they couldn't get Castle out of his cell? Finally Kate dragged him into their bedroom and kept him otherwise occupied until they both fell asleep.

Night had fallen and they were ready. Rodgers, Becks, Rick and Kate were in their SCUBA gear and were also fully armed. The petty officer in charge of sub number two spoke. "Boat One reports that Slaughter's people came back from the meeting with the north boat as happy as could be. They'll be back in ten and we can go have some playtime."

The four crewmen of Boat One sat in an open cockpit of the mini-sub while Rick, Kate, Rodgers and Becks held on to handholds on the side of the boat. They moved slowly through the water towards Slaughter's HQ.

Out of their view, Boat Two headed underwater to where Slaughter's boats were anchored. Once there, the sub drifted to the bottom and three men detached themselves from it. They swam up and found the propeller shafts of the power boats. They hooked explosive charges to them and set the fuses. The two sailboats were more difficult, but they managed to tie their explosives to the rudders. Then they returned to the sub, which backed off a few hundred yards.

Meanwhile Boat One had grounded itself by the south side of the building and Rick and his friends, plus two sailors swam up to the level where the other Rick Castle was being held. They crawled through smashed out windows, dragging spare SCUBA tanks with them. They found a wrecked room that Hastings had identified for them where they could keep an eye on Castle's cell and the entrance to the hole. Rick raised his head and peeked at the other Castle. He looked like shit. Castle ducked back down.

As they waited. Castle kept checking his watch. "What's wrong?" He whispered. "It's twelve thirty. The charges should be going off."

One of the men with them whispered back. "Be patient. Explosives aren't an exact science yet."

Castle kept his eye on his watch until fifteen more minutes had dragged by, agonizingly slowly. "We need to…" He began when they heard someone coming towards the hole.

Castle's heart sank when he saw who was coming. Hastings and Kate were coming all right, but so was some man. A big man with two pistols strapped low on his hips, gunfighter style with bandoleers over his shoulders and a rifle in his hand. He was talking. "Come on, bitch. It's a trade. I don't tell Slaughter that you snuck his girlfriend down here to see Castle and I get to fuck your holes all night long. And if I tell, I'll get to fuck you anyway, along with every other guy and a couple of the women." He laughed.

Hastings shrugged. "Well, since you put it that way…" She began to take off her top, very slowly.

She had just undone the last button when the first charge went off. The man turned around. "What the fuck…" Whatever else he was going to say was cut off by a gunshot to the head from Ann.

"Are you out there?" She yelled.

"Right here." Castle yelled, running for the other Castle's cell. The cell itself was made from welded bars, but the lock was a simple and cheap padlock. Castle was elbowed out of the way by one of the sailors with a pair of bolt cutters. "Excuse me, sir." He said as he cut the lock off.

Outside they could hear the sound of the charges sinking Slaughter's boats and the sound of the _Proud Mary_ firing at the upper floors of the building. In between explosions and bursts of heavy machine gun fire, they could hear screaming from upstairs.

"I think the party is over." Castle said, smiling.

The other Castle was in bad shape, so two of them had to carry him. As they headed for water and safety, a burst of fire pinned them down.

"You think I'm going to let you get away from me, bitch? Either of you?"

"Shit! That's Slaughter."

Bullets began to zip past them. It took a second or so to realize they were coming from outside of the Medical Center.

"It must be the Westies." Hastings yelled over the gunfire. "They're the only ones who have that kind of fire power."

One of the sub sailors was on the radio. " _Proud Mary_ , this is Boat One! We're taking fire from the building to the south of us. Light 'em up."

They could hear the roar of the engines as the _Proud Mary_ wheeled around and headed for the building. Then machine gun fire, mortar rounds and missiles stopped the incoming fire.

"I can see people moving towards us." Someone yelled.

Rodgers lifted himself up a bit and fired. Instead of the sharp crack of a rifle, they heard a soft _pop_ , quickly followed by a flash of light, then screams. "Willie Peter, make you a believer." Rodgers said, smiling.

"What?" Becks asked.

"White phosphorus grenade. Burns like hell. He stuck his head up and found no one was shooting at him. "Let's get the three of them into the SCUBA gear and get out of here before someone starts the party up again.

Rick was the closest to the other Kate and began putting SCUBA gear on her.

"Rick…" She stopped and looked at him. "Who are you?" She looked around, confirming that her Castle was being helped into SCUBA gear by…another her?

"All you need to know is that we're going to get the three of you and Alexis to someplace safe."

She shook her head. "There is no safe place."

Rick was showing her the mouthpiece when he saw her face clearly. She had a black eye, a split lip and bruises. "What happened?"

"Slaughter. He never liked me or Rick."

"I should go make sure he's dead."

"Like hell." Rodgers interrupted. "We don't have the time and with his boats gone, even if he did survive, which isn't likely, he'll die nice and slowly." Rodgers looked around. "Everybody ready? Let's get out of here."

They helped the three into the water and to the sub which was just a bit above the water. Castle ended up hanging onto Ann Hastings with one hand and onto the handhold on the sub with another as they sank and headed slowly back to the loft. One there, they gave the three former hostages some food, cared for their injuries as best they could, and then got everyone back in the water and onto their boats.

Three blue flashes later, they found themselves in a small artificial lake on the Moon.

"Welcome to someplace safe." Castle said to the three.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19, Alexis's in Wonderland

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Follow me down the rabbit hole and you'll find I don't own Castle. Rating: M, sometimes. I'll tell you when. Time: After my fic, Four of a Kind.

 **Chapter Nineteen: A Stately Pleasure Dome**

Castle normally liked to watch the shock on the newbies faces when they saw they were really on the Moon. That didn't happen this time. The _Proud Mary_ and the two mini-subs came back to an artificial lake inside a clear dome on the Moon, with the Earth hanging just over the horizon. But the new Kate Beckett didn't care. All she cared about was her Rick Castle, who had been starved and tortured by Slaughter for months. Kate herself was in little better shape, Slaughter being a sexual sadist. Alexis was so happy to have her family back and safe that she was crying too hard to notice much of anything. Lexi, the kidnapped Alexis, looked briefly at her surroundings and then went off with her friend.

"Hospital?" Castle asked Metford.

"Certainly, Mr. Castle. Their physical injuries are painful but they won't have long lasting consequences. Their mental wounds will take longer to heal, but with the help we can give them and the fact that they are now together and safe, they should heal completely."

"And you have a place for them to go? A good place?"

Metford sighed and nodded. "Of course. There's an Earth that's a few decades behind yours in technology. It has no Richard or Alexis Castle, or Kate Beckett. We have an office in the local San Francisco, so we'll locate them there. This Richard Castle was also a writer, Derrick Storm only, I'm afraid, and that Derrick Storm was an engineer. He helped solve global warming problems. But we're giving him a set of Derrick Storm, the spy, and Nikki Heat books from various Earths to give him some ideas. I'm sure we won't have to subsidize him forever. By the way, I've been reading your Nikki Heat books. Quite interesting. How did your Beckett ever manage to read those without instantly realizing you were in love with her?"

Castle shrugged. "I think she knew. She just didn't want to know."

"Ah, women." Metford replied.

"You married, Metford?"

"Of course. For forty one years now."

"So, when do we meet the little woman?"

"Never. We're trying to keep you from learning about our Earth, remember?"

"Worth a try."

They met the next day in Metford's office after getting the first of their intel virus shots.

"Swords?" Rodgers said angrily. "We have to use swords?"

"I know how to use a sword. I fence." Castle said.

"Fencing is a sport, Mr. Castle. Combat is different. Throwing an axe at your opponent while he only has a fencing foil would get you disqualified in fencing. In combat, it saves your life. You'll learn that when you get your second virus shots tomorrow. Muscle memory for combat and all that." Metford said with a superior smile.

As he always did, Rodgers began going over what they had learned from the first virus shot. "In most Earths, Genghis Khan died in 1227 Common Era and was succeeded by his son, Ogedei Khan who ruled until 1244. But not in the one we're headed for. On our Earth, Mongol armies had invaded Poland, Hungary, Croatia and Romania. They beat a German army at Breslau. A small Mongol army even made it to the Adriatic Sea, just across from Italy. In our Earths' histories, when Ogedei died in 1244 the Mongols about faced and returned to help choose the new Khan. They raided Eastern Europe after that, but were never as big a threat."

"But not where we're headed for." Becks added.

Rodgers nodded. "There, Ogedei lived another fifteen or so years. On that Earth they over ran Europe, the Islamic Middle East, the Seljuk Turks, the Byzantines, and got all the way to England and Ireland. The Italian Renaissance that ended Europe's Dark Ages was crushed before it ever got started. The Mongols didn't care if the Sun went around the Earth, or the Earth around the Sun. Knowledge was not highly valued in the Mongol Empire."

Castle took over. "They over ran what was left of China, South East Asia, India, Japan, hell, just about any place they could find."

"And Odegei organized the Mongol Empire as one unit. The Empire didn't get split up between the sons and grandsons of old Genghis Khan like happened on our Earth." Kate added.

"Intellectual life stagnated. Monasteries that had jump started the Renaissance never developed as intellectual centers. Oh, the Pope was allowed to run the Catholic Church, but the Mongols never let it amass the wealth and political power it would have had." Rodgers spoke again. "The Mongols were quite generous if you surrendered to them. If you were, say, the Duke of Kent, and you surrendered, you got to stay the Duke, keep a few soldiers to keep you own people in line, but nowhere near enough to be a threat to your Mongol overlords and as long as you did what you were told, everything was okay."

"But if you were the Duke of Earl and fought the Mongols, you not only didn't get to your song played, but you got beaten by a Mongol army. Then you were killed, your whole family massacred, and your cities sacked and its people enslaved. And some Mongol took over what was left."

"So, if there was a Christopher Columbus in 1492, he never learned enough about navigation to get across a river, let alone an ocean." Becks took over. "After four hundred years or so, the Mongol Empire collapsed, but culture was still Mongol. The only thing that mattered was military strength."

"The Basques discovered America some hundred and fifty years ago, while hunting whales, of all things. Europeans didn't have that much of a technical advantage over the Native Americans but some moved to America. The biggest colony is in what we'd call North Carolina and was founded by a disgraced younger brother of the Duke of Normandy and his people. His grandson runs the place now. They established themselves on the Outer Banks, islands off the coast, where their superior ships could keep the locals from driving them off. Gradually, they established themselves on the mainland. They just have enclaves now, but the Normans are a power in North Carolina."

"And an Alexis is there." Castle finished.

Two days later, well mounted, wearing chain mail hauberks and iron helmets and armed with sword, axe, lance, and composite bow, the five friends rode north into New Normandy. In addition to their riding horses, they had two pack horses with them. As Mongol women had once fought alongside their men, the three armed women were unusual, but hardly unknown.

They had been set down on the very edge of the territories of Duke Robert of New Normandy as he styled himself. In less than half an hour they met a Norman patrol of a dozen men.

"Good day to you." Called the patrol leader.

Both parties stopped their horse when about twenty feet apart. "Good day to you as well." Rodgers replied in Old Norman French, courtesy of his virus.

"Where have you been?"

Rodgers pointed his chin back behind them. "To the south, where a fool told us gold was."

"And was there."

Rodgers spat. "None. But the locals are friendly. The other tribes raid them and they're happy for a few armored riders to help."

"They'll cut your throat as soon as you're no longer needed." The patrol leader opined.

"Maybe. But they didn't."

"Indeed they didn't. Your accents are different. Where are you from?"

This was the hard part. "We're Walloons, from the north. The land of the Belges." Rodgers said carefully.

"Never been there." The patrol leader turned to his men. "Anyone of you ever meet a Walloon?"

The man all shook their heads. One fellow spoke. "Old Martin was a Walloon, always going on about how he missed his home there. But he's dead. Don't think there was another of his kind around."

The leader nodded. "We're at the end of our patrol. You can go back with us to Rouen-by-the-Sea if you care. We'll stop over night at St. Mere Eglise and then on to the capitol."

They introduced themselves. The patrol leader said he was Gustave and said no more.

St. Mere Eglise was a tidy little town of a few hundred souls near where Morehead City was on their own Earths. Rouen-by-the-Sea was on the southern shore of Albemarle Sound, not far from where New Bern would have been.

Rodgers noticed that while the fields were cleared for a couple of miles around the town there were no houses there. Everything was in the town, clustered by a small stone castle.

"Any raids by the locals while we were gone?" He asked.

Gustave shrugged. "How long were you gone?"

"Almost six months."

"Last raid was almost seven months ago. The Crusader fleet from Europe five months back gave us enough men to mount a raid back at the devils. Better yet, nearly a hundred fighting men stayed when the fleet went back. They brought more than a hundred peasant families to work the land for them." Gustave gestured to the land around them. "All of this land. A peasant can become a landowner and pay his taxes to a lord who used to be just a damned mercenary crossbowman. It takes a bit of getting used to, this New Normandie."

"Will you become a lord?"

Gustave spat. "Sit on my ass and screw peasant girls until some savage comes along and kills me? I'm a soldier. I'll stay one until I'm too old to fight. Then I'll get some land, have some damned peasant work it and move to the capitol."

"And sit on your ass and screw peasant girls?" Becks teased.

Gustave laughed. "I like your wife. I can see why you married her. If I could find one that can fight, I might get married. She have any unmarried sisters?"

They chatted with Gustave until they were inside the town. Gustave told them there was only one inn where they could stay. He did also mention that merchant ships sailed fairly regularly to Rouen-by-the-Sea and that passage probably would be less than what they could sell their horses for.

After a night at the local inn, they sold their horses for a tidy sum of gold pieces. They had other gold on them, but felt it was best to appear to live within their means.

After selling their horses, they walked down to their docks. A copper coin got a young boy to tell them all about the ships headed for Rouen-by-the-Sea. They selected the _Queen Maude_ as the best. They walked along the pier to the _Queen Maude._ The ship was built for speed and not comfort or carrying a lot of cargo.

"Looks like an old Viking ship." Castle muttered.

"The Norman's started out as Vikings a long time ago." Rodgers replied.

They spotted a dumpy, poorly dressed sailor dumping a bucket of slops overboard on the other side of the ship.

"Hey, is this ship headed for Rouen-by-the-Sea?" Rodgers called.

A decidedly female voice replied. "Of course it is, you damned idiot. Everyone knows the _Queen Maude_ is based there."

"And who are you?"

The woman laughed. "Who am I? I'm Maude, you fool."

"Queen Maude?" Castle asked disbelievingly.

"Queen of this ship. What's it to you?"

"We want to go to Rouen-by-the-Sea."

"You have two gold pieces each?"

"Yes."

"Then you can pay it to me and come aboard."

Thy looked at each other. Then Rodgers pulled out the money and hopped on board. "Seems a bit steep for such a short trip."

"Any trip us dangerous. The Ocean can kill you fast, if you're not careful. And good. Not every trip is fast, but this one is. You'll be fed and sleep under cover, and if anyone tries to take the ship, you won't even have to draw your swords. My oarsmen are the biggest and the strongest in the New World, and my long-bowmen the best shots. And I'm the most beautiful captain on the sea." At the last comment, she laughed loudly.

She looked up at the sky. "We'll have good weather and fair winds. Tide turns in three hours. You have until then to get your gear and stow it."

"We have everything right here."

"Then go for'ard and grab a spot. I may have more passengers."

The only other passengers were two monks who got seasick while the _Queen Maude_ was still tied up at the dock and stayed that way all the way to Rouen-by-the-Sea where they staggered off and promptly kissed the ground.

Rouen-by-the-Sea had the look of a small French city. Cobbled streets turning to muddy streets as you left the center of the city. The streets also narrowed and houses and shops seemed to lean over the streets, blocking the sunlight. The streets were full, however. Not only people walking about, but men and women carrying parcels, a man leading a large pig to market, a child with a small black and white kitten and several young "ladies" looking for customers. Not everyone walked, of course. A few rode horses, by their dress, they were the wealthier citizens. Most rode in carts filled with farm products or walked along side carts that were too full to allow a person to ride. In the distance a fortress loomed.

Castle and his friends were dressed in simple cotton outfits, pants, shirts and jackets. Women rode astride locally, so wearing pants as opposed to skirts was not unusual. They had left their heavy armor off, but wore their swords. A man pulling a cart followed them with their gear.

They were suddenly stopped by two armed and armored men. "Greetings, on behalf of Baron Michael, friends. He's always looking for some good men." His eyes strayed to the three women. He licked his lips. "And were always on the lookout for a pretty face and a saucy bottom, aren't we, Jean?"

Jean nodded while ogling the women.

"These are our wives and sister in law. I suggest you apologize to them now." Rodgers said coldly.

The man laughed. "Me, apologize to some trollop? Never happen. Now take your three whores out of here and don't let us catch you again."

Rodgers smiled, "I don't want any trouble…" He began, then kicked the man in the balls. He grabbed the man's helmet and smashed it into Jean's face before he could draw his weapon. Then he hit the first man with his own helmet. Both had collapsed in a heap.

"You don't want any trouble?' A man behind them said, chuckling.

They turned to face him. He was older, with grey hair and a salt and pepper mustache. He had probably once been as tall as Rodgers, but he was now quite bowlegged. His pants had a leather insert running from the knee, up to the crotch and down to the other knee. Rodgers figured him for a man who had spent most of his life in the saddle. His broad shoulders and thick arms were covered with a thick leather jacket. He was armed with a well-worn sword and a large dagger, but raised his hands from his weapons, smiling.

"That wasn't any trouble for me." Rodgers said.

The man laughed again. "I take your point. But, I'm afraid you've made an enemy. Beating up Baron Michael's men in public could get you a knife in the back." The man looked around. "There's a little tavern a bit away from here. I'll buy you all a cup of wine. You're newcomers and I've always been a very curious man and would hear your story. I'm Robert Denard, by the by."

He turned and headed down the street without looking to see if they followed him. The five exchanged glances and followed him.

The tavern was small, but comfortable with a floor of flagstones that were regularly swept, a massive fireplace, currently unlit and large wine casks lining one wall. They sat with Denard at a table. Denard seemed to be known, as the tavern wench smiled at him and suggested a cup of wine recently arrived from Europe.

They sat and drank while Rodgers told their prepared story. They were twin brothers, Richard and Rodger, sons of a soldier in the service of the Bishop of Liege. When they became of age, they too had joined the bishop's guards, but had become bored. They had wandered through Europe, serving as soldiers, sailors, woodsmen or anything else that came to hand until they met two twin sisters and married them. They had decided to come to New Normandie, having heard there were chances for a man to become rich.

"We talked to some drunk in a tavern who told us there was gold in the south. We looked where he told us, but found nothing. More fools we." Rodgers concluded the story.

Denard laughed. "At least the natives didn't separate your scalps from your heads. And you learned not to trust men you meet in taverns. Such as me." Denard laughed at his joke on himself.

"We've told you our story. Now it's your turn." Kate said.

Denard nodded and ordered more cups of wine. "Talking is thirsty work." When he had slaked his thirst, he asked them "What do you know of the situation here? Of the ruler?"

Castle shrugged. "Duke Robert runs the Dukedom. He's the grandson of the first Duke of New Normandie. What more do we need to know?"

"A good deal. Duke Robert is our Duke, may the Good God bless him. But he's old, almost seventy and not well. There is a question of the succession. Do you know of this?"

The five shook their heads.

Denard went on. "The Dukedom falls to the oldest son, by law and by custom going back to Europe. Well, not always. If the oldest is simple or something. Anyway, the Duke had three sons. Paul and Peter would have made great dukes. Wise, courageous, smart, they could even read and write as well as any monk. But Paul got an arrow in his eye through to his brain from a native and Peter died of the shaking fever. That left the youngest, also Robert. A lad of eight years. He's the son of Duchess Claudia, Duke Robert's second wife. She has a daughter by him of fifteen years. Both women are smart and determined that Robert should follow his father as the Duke of New Normandie."

"But not everyone agrees." Becks said.

Denard smiled. "Pretty and smart. But how did you lose the eye, pretty one?"

"A man flirted with me in front of my husband and I had to teach him not to." Becks shot back.

Denard roared with laughter. "Well, the lady is right. Baron Michael is Duke Robert's younger brother. He has some of the more powerful lords in his camp. They're afraid that rule by a young Duke Robert would mean rule by his mother and sisters. They fear that Duchess Claudia lacks the brains and the backbone to run the dukedom. In truth, she has more of both than most men."

"Anyone else?" Castle asked.

"Of course. "Lord Richard. A courtesy title. Better than his real title, Richard the Bastard. He was born on the wrong side of the blanket, as it were. He's young and a damned hothead. Him and his hotheaded supporters would start an endless crusade against the indigenous ones. As if Norman heavy infantry and heavy cavalry is what you need to fight an army of woodsrunners."

"That it?" Castle asked. Getting no reply, Castle saw that Denard was staring hard over Castle's shoulder. Castle turned and looked. Three armed men stood there, smiling at Denard. Castle noticed they all had blue sashes around their waists.

"Captain Denard." The man in the middle of the trio nodded to Denard."

"Lord Richard." Denard replied.

"I had heard that someone had beaten up two of Baron Michael's men. Naturally, I had to see these wonders for myself before my uncle had them killed. But, I see you beat me to it. Just as well, I suppose." Lord Richard strode to the table so that he could get a better look at everyone. "Which one of you defeated the Baron's men?"

"That would be me." Rodgers said.

"Oh, too bad." Lord Richard said, looking not at all unhappy. "I was hoping that it would be one of the ladies." He sighed dramatically. "And your names?"

Rodgers introduced them.

Lord Richard bowed graciously as the women were introduced and nodded genially to the men. "You have made your choice it seems, and now you must live with it. Or die with it. But perhaps later, you might take service with me." He bowed slightly. "And now I fear I must leave. Good day to you all."

"What was that all about? What choice did we make and why didn't we notice we'd made a choice?"

"You're _Captain_ Denard?" Kate asked. "Captain of what?"

"Duchess Claudia's guards." Denard admitted. "I'd have tried to recruit you after a bit, but now I'm afraid you'll have to join, or get killed by Baron Michael."

"Wait." Castle said quickly. "Sure, he'd be mad we beat up his men, but kill us? All of us?"

"Let me explain. Lord Richard sees Baron Michael as his only real rival. He can't imagine anyone will seriously back a child and two women. So, he takes every opportunity to attack Michael, and not just physically. He'll have all of his people spreading rumors of how one man defeated two armed and armored men of Michael's using only a guard's helmet. By nightfall, the rumors will be that one of the women defeated Michael himself in single combat, unarmed, while Michael was in full armor and mounted."

"But that never happened!" Castle protested.

"But by tomorrow, it will be a fact as far as everyone is concerned. You really should come with me, or see about leaving New Normandie all together. There is a Basque settlement some hundreds of leagues to the north you could flee to."

They exchanged glances. They really had no choice. "Where do we sign up for the Duchess' guards?" Rodgers asked unhappily.

Denard quickly took them back to the castle, had their names registered as members of the guards and was quite pleased that all five could read and write. He handed them each a small white cockade. "Wear this at all times. It signifies you're one of the Duchess' guards. The Duke's personal guards wear gold. Those of Michael wear blue and Richard's people wear red. Most of them sport their colors at all times, so you can easily tell who's who. No one will attack you openly, but be prepared for insults. Lots of them."

Denard took them to a balcony overlooking the throne room. The Duke, a tall, spare, elderly man with a white beard and hair, sat listlessly on a throne. Two well-dressed men were standing in front of him arguing about taxes of some sort.

"The woman in white is Duchess Claudia." Denard whispered.

The Duchess was in her early forties, with long black hair, a stunning face, and a friendly smile. She appeared to be paying close attention to the two men arguing before the Duke.

"You've seen Lord Richard, there to the right. To the left is Baron Michael and his party. Michael is the tall one with the black beard and hair. He's older than he looks." Denard muttered. "His hair went coal black over-night. When that happens, you know he's old."

There was some movement from the front of the crowd around the throne. "Ah!" Denard said. "Here comes the young son, Robert. "

Their eyes settled not on Robert, a slender young fellow dressed all in white, but on the redheaded woman walking with him.

"Who's the redhead?" Castle asked, as disinterestedly as he could manage.

"Lady Alexis, the boy's new tutor. She came to us from the Holy Land where she learned from Christian, Jew, Moslem, Parsees and many others. She has a wide and deep fund of knowledge."

"I'll just bet she does." Castle said.

They sat and watched as Alexis and Robert sat and listened to the two men arguing about taxes droned on and on. It looked like Duke Robert had fallen asleep, but Duchess Claudia was awake and asking questions. None of the five newcomers had any idea what the questions were about, but from the looks on the faces of the two men, they were succinct and were things neither man had considered. All the time, Lady Alexis sat with young Robert and whispered in his ear. Castle assumed that Alexis was giving the boy a brilliant political and economic analysis of the tax issue, but had to confess to himself that for all he knew, Alexis could have been whispering dirty jokes into the boy's ear.

Eventually the discussion of taxes was over and the five decided to contact Alexis. However, Denard intervened. They were, after all, Duchess Claudia's guards and were expected to do just that. They found themselves in full chain mail armor standing by a lowered drawbridge in the back of the palace. On the other side of the drawbridge were a contingent of the Duke's guards. They wore gold colored cockades and seemed friendly enough. They did notice that when partisans of Michael or Richard passed by, they glared at the two groups of guards. The Duke's guards returned the glares. So did Castle and his friends.

They discovered two things. One, they found that after three days of guard duty, they would get the fourth day off. They also discovered that when the weather was nice, Lady Alexis liked to take young Robert into a small park in the middle of the castle for his lessons. On the fourth day they went to the park. They did not find Alexis there.

"Ah, Jean. Look who has come to join us." It was the two men Rodgers had knocked out on their first day. They had a dozen friends with them, all in armor and armed. The five friends had their swords, but no armor.

Jean laughed and rubbed a sore spot on his head. "Once we've killed the men, we'll have our way with the women and when we're done, we can sell them to a slaver I know. They'll disappear inland and spend their lives spreading their legs for some local." The rest of the men laughed.

Kate drew her sword. "You may find I'll spread your legs for you and remove anything you have between them. Assuming I can find it."

The rest drew their swords and stood together, waiting the onslaught. Jean and his cronies spread out and began moving slowly towards them.

Castle heard an odd _zip_ and watched as Jean fell over with an arrow through his eye. The Baron's guards stopped where they were and looked around. Castle heard a cackling laughter from behind him. He craned his neck around and saw a half a dozen bowmen standing on a balcony behind them. A short, swarthy, man dressed in rank furs was laughing. "I am Subedei. Go, take your friend's body and never bother these people again."

The remaining guards stood looking at each other and then at the bowmen above them. One man turned and left, quickly followed by all the rest.

The bowmen had left when Castle turned around, only to reappear through a doorway into the little park.

"Who are you?" Castle asked. "And thanks for saving us."

"They're Mongols and they're my guards. Don't thank them too soon because you still may die today. Now, who the hell are you?" Lady Alexis asked.

"Neither one of us is your father." Castle began.

"Of course you're not. Do you think I'm an idiot? You're both up and walking on two legs. Now who are you, before I have Subedei turn you into pincushions?"

The five explained who they were, what their mission was and why Alexis had been kidnapped. "We've been looking for you so we can bring you back to your father. We can be out of here in seconds." Castle said, happy their mission was now over.

"Not a chance." Alexis said.

"What do you mean, not a chance? Do you have any idea what could happen if Bracken gets the secret of travels between alternate Earths? The man has put together the biggest military since…."Castle tried to think just how big Bracken's forces were.

Luckily, Rodgers had that. "Bracken's America has a bigger military force than anything since World War Two. It's bigger than the army of the Viet Nam war, the Reagan build up, the wars after 9/11. And he's just itching to use it on someone."

"For which I have your word." Alexis shot back. "And of course you wouldn't lie to me."

"We have a letter from your father." Kate said. "Back in our quarters."

"I'll look at it, but I'm not going back. Not right now."

"Why not right now?" Becks asked, now curious.

"I pledged to take care of young Robert. Not just to teach him, but to protect him. And I will. His uncle, Baron Michael, will kill him if he can and Richard is no better."

"Why not leave protecting him up to his father?" Rodgers asked, reasonably.

"Because Duke Robert collapsed not a quarter of an hour ago. It's his heart. He may even now be dead. Duchess Claudia is telling everyone that the Duke is merely ill, but the charade cannot last long." She looked at the five of them. "You are not of this world, but you took an oath to protect Duchess Claudia and her son. Will you still follow that oath?"

Before any of them could answer, they heard yelling coming from inside the castle. In seconds, they could understand what was being yelled.

"Duke Robert is dead!"


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20, Alexis's in Wonderland

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: See all of the Castle I do not own? Rating: M, in places. Time: After my fic, Four of a Kind.

 **Chapter Twenty: End game?**

Hearing that Duke Robert was dead and that everyone knew it, everyone, Castle and his wife and friends and Alexis' Mongol guards, followed Alexis back to the throne room. To their surprise, it was empty.

"We'll go to Duchess Claudia's quarters." Alexis decided and headed down a series of hallways. On the way, the found Captain Denard.

"What happened?" Alexis demanded.

"Too many people knew he had died. Someone talked. We can't worry about that now. We have to decide what to do next."

Shortly they came to what must have been the Duke and Duchess's living room in their quarters. Duchess Claudia was there with several of her ladies in waiting, a half a dozen men that Castle vaguely knew to be her supporters and young Robert.

Alexis bowed to Robert. "Duke Robert. I am at your command." Denard followed her, also pledging his loyalty. The five exchanged glances, then bowed and pledged their loyalty to the new Duke.

The duchess spoke. "Lady Alexis, I don't believe I know the people with you, although the wear my colors. Why did you bring them here?"

"They are newcomers to New Normandie, but they have travelled far and wide and have had much experience. I think they may be useful in deciding what to do next."

"Just what are the other sides doing?" Castle asked. "I'd have thought there'd be fighting in the streets by now."

Alexis gave him a look that he knew he'd seen before from his own Alexis. "Richard, while Duke Robert…"She stopped for a second. "While Duke Robert the Elder was still alive, no one wished to proclaim formal allegiance to one of our opponents or the other. Should that become public, it would be too easy to construe that as being a treasonous desire to get rid of Duke Robert the Elder. But now that the Duke are dead, both Michael and Richard are now openly asking for support. And their would-be supporters are asking what they may expect in return."

Castle had an idea. "What do they want in return?"

"Each and every one of them?" Alexis asked, frowning.

"Just generally. What about the people who support Lord Richard?"

"They're young men, hotheads and most are landless, who want glory and land. They think they'll find it by attacking the locals."

Castle smiled. "Hotheads, you say? Not the kind of people who'd be interested in the nitty gritty of governing."

"Nitti gritty?" Asked Duchess Claudia, clearly confused.

Castle ignored her. "Have those two who were arguing about taxes earlier today go to Lord Richard and ask what his stand on that tax, and taxes in general, are. Find other people to ask him about…agricultural policy, trade, anything and everything. And have them remind him that if he's going to go to war, he's going to need money, which means taxes, food, weapons, armor, horses, all of which he's going to need to take care of if he's the new Duke. He can't just ignore it, and if he lets someone else handle that part, Richard won't be the Duke anymore. The guy with the money and the power will be. Then when Richard has got all that to think about that, suggest that you might be willing to support him and his followers with money, food, weapons and horses if he wants to lead an army inland. With any luck he and his followers will all get killed."

Castle felt a little badly that he might just be starting a war, but he just might be preventing a bigger war.

Duchess Claudia looked at Alexis. "That just might work. Can we get Master Oddo and Master Degrelle to speak to Lord Richard? And some others?"

Alexis nodded." And Master Poulan from the Ducal dockyard. The problems there have been quite vexing. It is something that the new Duke will have to consider and then there's the problem of the dikes." Alexis smiled. "I'm sure I can find some other people with serious problems that only the new Duke can fix." She bowed to Duchess Claudia. "If you will excuse me?"

Alexis gathered up a half a dozen pages and ladies in waiting and told them to bring various people to the Duchess' chambers. As they arrived, they were sent off to talk to the Duchess and Alexis.

Finally, the last of the courtiers and administrators had been sent off to ask Lord Richard for a chance to talk. The Duchess called for food and drink. Castle saw Alexis sitting in a corner eating by herself. He went over to join her.

"Mind if I join you?"

"Why, am I coming apart?" She said with a grin.

"Very funny." Rick said, sitting across from her. "How did you end up here? Not just in this alternate Earth but as the tutor to the Duke."

Alexis eyed him speculatively. "The idiots that kidnapped me thought that because they had modern guns they we invincible. They ran into a band of Native Americans and ended up looking like pin cushions with all the arrows in them. The locals were friendly with the Normans and brought me here. I made up a story about being from the Holy Land and being a great scholar. I told them I had been shipwrecked some way to the south. They decided to test my claims to be a scholar by introducing me to the local Galileo."

"The local Galileo?" Castle asked.

"A man named Schroeder, from what would be Germany, was trying to prove that the Earth and all the planets orbited the Sun as opposed to everything revolving around the Earth. But, he couldn't get his mathematical proofs to work. I quickly saw that they didn't work because he assumed that the Earth's orbit was a perfect circle, whereas in reality the orbit is slightly oval. Once he got that, we worked out the proofs and I was established as a great scholar and teacher. The job as tutor to young Robert was obvious."

"That's my girl." Castle said, before realizing this Alexis was not his girl. She didn't seem to take offence, but he decided he'd better change the subject. "How's things going with Lord Richard? I saw Rosencrantz and Guildenstern coming back. Anything?"

"Lord Richard tossed them out. He was too busy making a speech to his bloodthirsty followers telling them how they were going to conquer the whole continent."

"The whole continent? That's on tall order for…How many Normans?"

Alexis shook her head sadly. "There are a bit over a hundred thousand Normans scattered along the coast of what we'd call North Carolina, a little bit into South Carolina and a lot more in the Chesapeake region. Lord Richard probably has twelve hundred or so fighters, but they're all well-armed and armored, professional warriors. About half are infantry, armed with swords and spears, then a quarter or so are missile troops, longbowmen, crossbowmen and slingers. The rest are heavy cavalry, plus a few friendly locals who function as scouts mostly."

"Do they have any idea how big the continent is?" Rodgers asked, joining them along with Kate, Becks and Simone.

"Not a clue." Alexis shook her head. "I've tried to suggest to them how big it is, but as a wandering scholar from the Middle East, I should know very little about the geography of this continent."

Rodgers scratched his jaw. "The Normans are disciplined, well-armed and united. The locals don't have the type of discipline the Normans do, if they feel like going home, they go home. At least that was the way it was on my Earth. And they're divided up into too many tribes and they never united. Remember, the Apaches weren't defeated by the US Cavalry as the movies would have us believe, but by Apache Scouts. Apaches that fought against other Apaches. Cortez took Mexico by raising the Tlaxcalans and others against the Aztec overlords. Divide and conquer."

"One way or another we'll be out of here." Becks said softly.

As they talked, emissaries from Duchess Claudia went to the supporters of Michael to see what their wishes were and see if those wishes could be granted without compromising Duke Robert's powers.

At dinner time, the five sat together while people came and went in the Duchess' chambers.

"Here we are supporting a divine right monarch." Becks said. "I'm not big on this."

"We can't very well tell everyone to please set up a representative democracy and forget all about the nobility running things. We've tried that back on our own Earths. It didn't work out well."

Castle shrugged. "It worked with Germany after World War Two."

"They had had a form of democracy before both World Wars and they had the example of neighboring democracies to guide them. Plus they lost a war to democracies."

"Look!" Kate broke in. "We can't solve this world's problems. All we can do is try not to screw things up too badly here and get back with this Alexis so that President Bracken doesn't start overrunning other Earths."

Castle looked for a watch that wasn't there. "Force of habit. But it's late. We should get to bed."

The next day was better. The armorer had gone to see Lord Richard to ask him what he'd do about the scandalous state of the Ducal armory, asking a lot of technical questions that Lord Richard couldn't answer. He was followed by the head of the Ducal stud farms, with endless complaints about how badly the horse breeding was going. Later that afternoon, while Lord Richard was trying to understand the questions he'd already been asked, the head of the shipyard dropped by to ask Richard how he would handle a few simple problems at the shipyard. It took him nearly an hour to ask the questions.

That evening, they all met with Duchess Claudia. The Duchess looked out at her supporters. According to Alexis, there were some new people aligning themselves with the Duchess and Duke Robert the Younger. They were small landowners, wealthy merchants, and only a few of the nobility, but it was more than they had before.

The Duchess spoke. "I think we've done well, Richard." She nodded at Castle. "If this works as we hope it does, I'll have to consider knighting you. I won't knight you now, so that if someone else becomes the new Duke, you and yours can claim to have been just underlings and escape the noose, or however the new Duke would dispose of us.'

Castle felt both excited about being a knight and upset at the idea that these people could be facing death.

"I have talked to the people we sent to Lord Richard. While he seemed for the most part to be distracted and disinterested in their problems, Master Rastignac said that when he talked about the shipyards, Lord Richard seemed to understand that this was a problem that would have to be solved by the new Duke. Hopefully, he's thinking about the armories, the stud farms, taxes and all the rest. I hope he gets no sleep tonight worrying about it. I'm sure I'll get no sleep myself." The Duchess stood. "That said, my friends, we should all get some sleep if we can."

Castle and Kate and their friends were headed for their quarters when Alexis approached them.

"We need to talk."

Castle grimaced. "People say that when there's bad news."

"There's no more bad news than there was this morning. But that's still plenty. Have you any ideas about how to separate Count Michael from his followers?"

"What do they want that Michael can give them that the Duchess and Duke Robert, when he's older, can't?"

"They want a stable, strong government that will support their interests. These are the upper nobility and they're the big landowners. They have their own armed retinues. All together they can put perhaps three times as many warriors in the field as Lord Richard and the Duchess combined. And they have wealth to hire mercenaries or to tempt the followers we and Lord Richard have. And they don't believe a woman or a child can provide what they want."

"Haven't there been strong female leaders before?" Rodgers asked. "Look, they have no problems with Kate and Becks being guards for the Duchess. Hell, they expect women to be able to fight."

"Mostly it's because the old Duke was so damned good a leader. No one ever saw how much he used Duchess Claudia's abilities. He made it seem like he just effortlessly ran New Normandie all by himself. As far as everyone else is concerned, she's just his wife and nothing else."

"Crap." Castle muttered.

"Crap, indeed." Kate added.

On the other front, however, things were looking up. A delegation of blacksmiths and armorers had met with Lord Richard and pointed out that a new offensive against the locals would require that they produce more weapons and armor. That would require more coal and iron. While there were rumors of deposits of coal and iron in the interior, no one knew the truth of those rumors. However, importing iron and coal from Europe was expensive. They wanted to know what Lord Richard had in mind.

After he had promised to think about that, he met with a delegation of fishermen. A large army would require more food and salted fish would be an important part of their diet, they told Lord Richard. How were they to catch more fish? Where would they find more salt?

When a delegation of stonemasons and builders arrived to ask whether or not more fortifications would be needed, Lord Richard was suddenly unavailable.

Duchess Claudia brought her supporters together that evening after dinner. When she spoke, she had a smile on her face. "We seem to have attracted Lord Richard's attention to some of the more dreary aspects of being the Duke. His cousin, Martin of Belfort has asked for an audience. He's very close to Lord Richard and has a reputation of actually being able to think, unlike so many of Richard's followers. We shall receive him tomorrow."

The five of them retired to their quarters that night feeling that things might be getting better and that they could be going home soon.

Things did not look so bright the next day.

"What's going on?" Rodgers asked Castle as they stood guard at Duchess Claudia's quarters. The meeting with Martin of Belfort was taking place behind closed doors. However, Rick had gone to the medieval latrine, something that made him nauseous, but had talked to a servant who had brought food to the two delegations.

"The guy I talked to said there was a lot of shouting and yelling going on. Mostly from Martin's side. He doesn't like the deal being offered one bit."

"Do you think Lord Richard will declare himself the new Duke and rush us with his men? We're in a castle but he has a lot more men that we do?"

Rodgers shrugged. "You know as much as I do."

All through the day, rumors ran through the castle. None of them were good and some were much worse. At the end of a very long day, Duchess Claudia called her closest advisors, including Alexis and Rick and his companions in.

"I'm glad to announce that have reached an agreement with Lord Richard. He will come to the castle tomorrow to swear fealty to Duke Robert."

There was a buzz of conversation and finally Alexis spoke. "Duchess, we had heard that the negotiations were going badly. Very badly."

The Duchess smiled. "It's not unheard of for someone in a weak bargaining position to make extravagant demands and then allow themselves be talked into something more reasonable. Lord Richard's supporters have heard about the problems with weapons and armor, horses, food, and everything else and wanted to know how he intended to resolve these. Unfortunately he had no idea. We have a few friends among his supporters, who suggested that he ask us for support for his army in return for their fealty to our Duke. Eventually, he agreed."

The Duchess looked around with a gleam in her eye. "Also, word will get back to Michael that our negotiations have come to naught. He should get quite a surprise tomorrow."

"Speaking of surprises," Alexis spoke, "what do we do about Michael? Even with Lord Richard's supporters, Michael's forces outnumber us greatly. And Richard's troops signed up to fight for glory and land in the interior, not to fight in a civil war against other Normans."

"One problem at a time, child." The Duchess said quietly.

"Magna Carta!" Castle said sharply.

"A great charter?" The Duchess frowned. "What kind of a charter?"

"Something that happened in a country I was in a long time ago." Castle extemporized. "Um, the barons thought the local king couldn't protect them or might even be looking to take over their lands. So they forced the king to sign a document delineating which powers the king had and which the barons had. It's been a while since I was there, but I heard it all worked out."

Kate took up the tale. "Michael's supporters aren't that interested in having him become the Duke, they just want someone to guarantee their lands and privileges for them. We can do that as well." Kate noticed a frown on the Duchess' face. "Um, you can do that as well as Michael."

Duchess Claudia looked around at her closest advisors. Some sort of silent messages passed between them. She nodded. "We will discuss this. In the meantime, I want my guards to seal the palace off entirely. I do not want anyone to find out that Lord Richard has come to terms with us."

The night was busier for the guards than most nights. All sorts of people had to leave the palace. There seemed to be an abundance of sick relatives, romantic plans, cooks needing to go shopping, maids who needed a new scrub brush and even a sick parrot problem.

"I tell you, poor little Pierre has been coughing all night, the poor dear." A busty wench told Castle. She bent over a bit more to show her cleavage, but when she stood up, she found herself looking into a pair of hazel eyes.

"Go back to your quarters and stay there." Kate snarled. "Or I'll find a place for your parrot to roost that you won't like at all."

The woman went back to her quarters and Pierre, actually a crossbowman in the service of Count Michael, waited for her in vain.

Shortly after dawn, the guards were told to let anyone who wanted to leave the palace do so. The thought was that if all of Michael's supporters inside the castle left, they couldn't cause any problems when Lord Richard arrived.

About an hour after dawn, Lord Richard and his party arrived. They rode magnificent warhorses, who had strips of costly silk entwined in their manes and tails. There saddle blankets were heavily embroidered and the clothing of Lord Richard and the two dozen or so of his most important followers was magnificent.

Lord Richard definitely set the tone. He wore riding boots so highly polished that they seemed to glow, complete with golden spurs. Skin tight doeskin breeches were tucked into his boots and above that was a red silk shirt, tight across the body by very baggy in the sleeves. An unfastened vest, embroidered with battle scenes between a knight and some mythical beasts held a single red rose at the lapel. On his head was a wide brimmed hat with a large bird's feather that some artist had colored with all the colors of the rainbow. None of his followers were so magnificent, but all wore the most colorful and flamboyant clothes they had.

Lord Richard and his followers gathered at the far end of the throne room. At the other end, Duchess Claudia and young Duke Robert sat on their thrones two or three steps above the floor, with several of their advisers, including Alexis, at floor level. All of this was watched over by Alexis' Mongol guards, who were making a not very successful effort to look like they weren't expecting treachery from Lord Richard.

Lord Richard crossed the floor by himself, and knelt before Duke Robert one step below the new duke. Robert had removed a sword from behind his throne and held it with the point on the floor in front of Lord Richard. Castle noticed that in that position, the sword, with its cross guard resembled a Christian cross.

Richard put his hand on the hilt of the sword. Duke Robert put his hand atop Lord Richard's.

Richard spoke. "I swear to bear true fealty to you as my liege lord and to support you in every way, for as long as God gives me the strength to do so."

Then Duke Robert spoke. "I accept your fealty and I swear that I shall support you in every way, as long as God gives me the strength to do so."

Richard rose and walked back to the other side of the room. The next one of Lord Richard's supporters came forward and the ceremony was repeated until everyone had pledged fealty to Duke Robert.

Lord Richard went off with the Duchess and Duke to discuss the upcoming campaign. As the supporters of Lord Richard wandered away, Kate saw Alexis motioning to them.

"What?" Rick asked when he and his friends met with Alexis in a small alcove off of the throne room.

"News that Lord Richard has sworn fealty to young Robert has spread like wildfire. And, we've had two messages from nobles that had supported Michael asking to speak with the Duke and Duchess."

"So, maybe this can be resolved without a civil war?" Simone asked.

Alexis shrugged. "I hope so."

The next three days they were kept busy guarding the negotiations between Duke Robert, the Duchess and several prominent noblemen. No one outside of the negotiators themselves knew they were going, but the mere fact they were talking was a good sign.

"Duchess Claudia is talking to each noble separately." Alexis explained several days later. "That way each noble can wonder and worry that when this great charter is signed, what they'll lose if they don't get in on the ground floor so to speak."

In the end, four nobles agreed to pledge fealty to Duke Robert in exchange for the great charter, in effect a written guarantee that their rights and privileges would be respected. The news that four powerful lords would support Duke Robert began a hemorrhage of support from Michael.

Alexis explained things to them at dinner one night. "Michael does have a hard core of supporters, but if he tries to declare himself Duke he won't have enough fighting men to succeed. The Duke's own troops would be enough to defeat Michael."

Duchess Claudia decided to have the four nobles declare their fealty to Duke Robert as soon as possible, feeling that would put additional pressure on those nobles who still hung back, or who wanted too much from the Duke.

On the day the oath was to be sworn, the four nobles gathered in the throne room across from Duke Robert and Duchess Claudia. They were not dressed in their finest clothes as Richard and his followers had been, apparently feeling that they did not need to impress anyone.

Rick and Kate were on guard on a stair landing looking down into a hallway a short flight of stairs from the landing. As they stood there a column of priests approached, led by a cardinal dressed in red and followed by rank after rank of black robed priests.

As the cardinal passed, Kate frowned. "Castle, those men are clinking."

"Clinking." Rick listened. "Like they're…"

"Wearing armor under their robes." Kate finished.

"Guards!" They both screamed. "Those aren't priests!"

The fake priests threw off their robes. Most ran for the throne room. Three went up the stairs toward Rick and Kate. Rick was to Kate's right. She had a shield that would cover the left side of her body. Castle moved his shield to cover her right side.

"Castle! Dammit!" Kate screamed at him, but the three men were on them.

Rick soon found that dueling with light weight epees wasn't the same as being in a real sword fight. The first man to him slammed his shield into Castle's shield, knocking him back. Castle shoved with his shield, but the other man had braced himself and didn't move. He swung his sword down and chopped a piece out of Castle's shield, the force of the blow shoving Rick down. The man rained blows down on Castle's shield, knocking parts off of it. Suddenly Castle saw his chance. He swung his sword at the other man's knee, below his chain mail. He heard the man curse and so he swung again. This time the man hopped a few steps downward and grabbed his bleeding knee.

Castle looked up to see that Kate was holding her own against her opponent. He stood up to help her when the third man attacked him. Instead of a sword, this one had a two handed axe. One blow sent Castle back to his knees. The second blow left him with half a shield and the third with no shield at all. His opponent raised his axe above his head for a killing blow only to have Kate's sword slash him across the cheek, staggering him for a moment. Castle stabbed at him, but his sword skittered off the man's chain mail. Castle saw he would get no more help from Kate. Saving him had allowed her opponent to grab her sword arm. They were in a wrestling match for the sword that Kate would soon lose. Castle tried to pull his sword back to stab again, but he could see it was too late. He watched as an arrow flashed through the man's throat and sailed over his head. When the man fell, Castle could see one of Alexis' Mongol guards smiling up at him, then running off. He turned to Kate's assailant and drove the tip of his sword into the man's neck between his chain mail coat and his helmet. The man turned to Castle with a most surprised look on his face and then collapsed.

"Are you okay?" Kate screamed, putting her arms around him.

"I'm not sure. Do I have any holes in me?"

Kate smiled at him. "No. You're good."

"You're remarkable." He replied.

He stood there shakily for a moment until the sounds of battle from the throne room reminded them of what they had to do."

"Once more unto the breach, dear wife." Castle misquoted.

"I'm never letting you watch Henry V again."

As they trotted down the hall to the throne room, Kate spoke. "Stay behind me. You don't have a shield."

"Like hell."

They were still arguing when they reached the throne room. They stopped to get their bearings, looking at the swirling fight going on. The Mongol's with their recurved bows and the Duke's crossbowmen had taken up positions on the balconies above them and were shooting down into the mass of men, unerringly picking of Michael's men. Castle saw one of the Duke's guards fall with a crossbow bolt in his back and decided their aim was sub-unerring.

"Castle!" Kate screamed, pointing across the room. Castle saw a flash of red and realized that Alexis, carrying the young Duke was heading straight for them. One of Michael's men was in hot pursuit of her, sword in hand.

Castle almost made it to her before the sword cut into Alexis' back. She screamed and fell forward. As her assailant raised his sword to strike a killing blow, Castle chopped at his neck. Blood sprayed on Castle, Alexis and the young Duke. Castle showed the man's body away and knelt by Alexis. Blood was pouring from her back.

"Metford! Get us all the hell out of here now!" Castle screamed.

A few seconds passed and then, to everyone's amazement, there was a flash of blue light and six people vanished.

Back on the Moon, Castle was pushing as hard as he could on Alexis' back to staunch the flow of blood. "It's her, dammit! It's the Alexis you wanted. Save her! Save her!"

He was moved out of the way by paramedics and a doctor. Kate dragged him further away.

"Will she be okay?" He called, beginning to cry. The medics were too busy saving her to answer. Castle and his friends watched as Alexis was loaded onto a gurney and quickly wheeled away.

His friends took Castle back to their quarters where they sat quietly for several hours until Metford called them to his office.

"Alexis suffered some internal injuries and has lost a lot of blood, but she should be okay in a few days. Lucky for her our medical science is in advance of everyone else's." Metford smiled. "Speaking of our medical science, we can begin the repair of Ms. Beckett's eye and face and we can begin repairing Mr. Rodger's PTSD."

"How long is that going to take?" Rodgers asked. "What do you do? Group therapy? One on one? Meds?"

Metford shrugged. "I'm not an expert, but we've found that many psychological problems are due to almost imperceptible chemical imbalances in the brain. That and some medications can reduce your nightmares, flashbacks, exaggerated startle reaction, mood swings and other symptoms down to little or nothing. Would you two care to start this evening after dinner?"

Both Becks and Rodgers smiled, then turned to each other.

"When you're all done here, we'd like you to take this Alexis back to her father. We think we have protocols in place now to keep President Bracken's men from being able to access her Earth."

"We're really going to go home?" Castle asked.

Metford nodded with a smile.

Castle turned to Kate and kissed her. "Just our luck that the last kidnapped Alexis we found was the one we wanted."

"Oh, there's still another Alexis out there." Metford said.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21, Alexis's in Wonderland

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: What do you think? Rating: K Time: The future, after my story, Four of a Kind.

 **Chapter twenty One: Through the Looking Glass**

The five turned and stared at Metford. "What?" Asked Castle.

"There is one more Alexis. However, it isn't necessary for you to retrieve her. We have the Alexis we need."

Rodgers shook his head. "Metford, fuck you and your whole fucking planet. We're going after the last Alexis." The others nodded.

"That's not necessary, you know. The last Alexis…."

Kate cut him off. "We're going to get the last remaining Alexis. End of discussion."

Metford shrugged. "If you so desire. However, it'll take a bit to set up. Ms. Beckett and Mr. Rodgers may as well get their medical needs taken care of."

The five exchanged glances. Rodgers and Becks nodded. "Okay." They said together.

Becks and Rodgers disappeared into the local hospital while Rick, Kate and Simone went back to the Lunar home they had occupied. Rick and Kate tried to involve Simone as much as possible in their activities, but after a few days Simone asked to not be included in anything they did.

"I like you, Kate. More than like, I love you like a sister. But I'm in love with your husband, but I won't do anything to try to break you two up. The easiest way to keep from doing that is to just stay away."

After Kate told Rick about the conversation, Rick went to Metford to see if they could find Simone an Earth with a Rick Castle and no Kate Beckett. "The Universe wants the Ricks and the Kates to be together."

"Mr. Castle, "Metford said tiredly, "we are not a dating service. I assure you that there is nothing magical about your relationship with Kate Beckett. Not that we've bothered to check, but I'm sure there are plenty of Earths where you two are happily married to other people, where your friend Detective Ryan is married to someone you've never heard of. I'm sure that somewhere you're madly in love with your wife Meredith."

"Meredith? That's disgusting." Castle said as he walked out of Metford's office.

After four days, Rick and Kate came back to find Becks staring in a mirror. She whirled around when she heard them come in. "Look! My eye! The bone, the skin, the…the everything! I'm fixed. I never thought I'd be anything but ugly and now…I'm me!"

"You've never been ugly. "Rodgers said, walking through the door. "Never."

Becks ran to him, threw her arms around him and kissed him passionately. Rodgers picked her up and carried her off to their bedroom.

After a few minutes of passionate lovemaking sounds, Simone walked out of her room and went right out the front door.

"I think we might give them some privacy, Mrs. Castle." Rick suggested, "Dinner?"

She nodded. "Then we can come back and give them some competition, Mr. Castle."

They did try to give them some competition when they returned, but Rick and Kate had to admit that the quantity of the lovemaking next door was spectacular, even if they couldn't check on the quality.

In the early hours of the morning Kate was woken by a crash in the living room and a muffled curse. She wake Rick when she got out of bed and both went to investigate. Turning on the light, they found Simone putting a lamp back on a table. She had been crying and her blouse was unbuttoned showing she had no bra on. When they got closer, they could smell the alcohol on her.

"What's wrong?" Kate asked softly.

Simone shook her head and headed very unsteadily to her room, but fell to her knees after two steps.

Rick and Kate knelt beside her. "What's wrong?" Kate asked again.

Simone looked back and forth at each one. "I went to a bar and had a drink." She slurred.

"Just one?" Kate asked.

"I had as many as I wanted. Then I picked up some guy and we went to his place and fucked. When we'd worn each other out, he started telling me how beautiful, and sexy and hot I was. And I told him he wasn't Rick Castle and he told me to get the fuck out. And here I am." She managed to stagger to her feet and Kate took the sobbing woman to her bedroom.

When Kate came back to bed, she snuggled up against Rick. "What are we going to do about her?"

Rick shook his head. "I have no idea. I can't build her a Rick, and Metford won't help. I refuse to believe that the Universe wants all Kate Beckett's except her to find their Rick."

The next morning, Becks cornered Kate. "What happened to Simone? We heard her come in last night, but couldn't hear most of the conversation."

"She's the only one of the Kate Becketts now that hasn't found a Rick. She's in love with my Rick and probably yours as well, but she's too honorable to make a play for either one. Rick asked Metford to try to find a Rick for her, but he refused."

"So..?"

Kate shrugged. "We'll take her back to our Earth. Maybe she can find someone there."

Becks shook her head sadly. "There's a spare Rick on my Earth, but I wouldn't wish that prick on my worst enemy. He stirred me up to go after Bracken and then he abandoned me."

Both women parted with no idea how to solve their problem.

The next day, they were told by Metford that Alexis was well enough to go home. "Our medical science, just like everything about our society, is far in advance of yours." He said smugly.

Alexis was a little stiff, but more than happy to go home. The five walked her to the red square and, in a flash of blue light, they found themselves in another Rick's home.

"Pumpkin!"

"Daddy!" They cried out at the same time and ran forward to hug each other and even cry a little.

After the tearful reunion, they took this Rick aside and explained that the Earth where Bracken was President couldn't threaten Alexis any more. "I have no idea how they did it, but apparently they can keep anyone from another Earth from coming to this Earth. They also mounted some kind of a commando raid that damaged Bracken's research center and killed his top people. A fairly grim way to do things, but probably it kills fewer people in the long run.

Rick Castle, the scientist, shook each of their hands. "How can I ever thank you?"

They looked at each other. "We did some thinking about that." Kate said. "At first we thought that it would be best if you stopped your research on alternate Earths. But that would leave Metford and his Earth in control of that particular secret. We have no evidence that they're a bunch of psychopaths or fascists, but that's an awful of power for one world out of thousands to have, so maybe it would be better if lots of Earths could trade and learn from each other. Or maybe not. So we finally decided that you're just going to have to ask you to follow your own conscience. It's the best we can do."

The other Rick nodded. "I have a lot of thinking to do. But at least Alexis is here with me."

After a final round of handshakes, they were gone in a flash of blue light.

Metford was waiting for them. "Ready to go look for the final Alexis? You can leave tomorrow morning. You won't need any special information from the viruses. This Earth is quite close to the Earths you're from."

The next morning they found themselves in an alley in New York City. A quick check of the neighborhood showed they were a block or two away from where Castle's loft should be. To be sure that no one would see multiple Ricks and Kates, if a Castle lived here on this Earth, Simone walked up to the doorman by herself.

"Hello. I'm looking for a Mr. Castle?" She held out a photo of Rick on her phone. "I know him only slightly and I think he lives around here. Can you help me?"

The doorman, a heavily built African-American who looked nothing like the doorman Simone knew, looked carefully at the picture, then slowly shook his head. "No. Not familiar at all. I know everyone in this building and most of the people on this block. Never seen him before."

Simone thanked him and went back to her friends. She told them what she had learned.

"What now?" Becks asked.

"Luckily you have a card carrying member of the New York Public Library with you. We're off to do research."

Once at the library, Kate found an entry for Richard Castle almost at once. "Richard Castle Productions with an office in Santa Monica, CA." She tapped the computer screen. "They even have a picture of him. It's him."

Leaving the library, they noticed something. "Look! It's the World Trade Center. It's still standing." Rodgers said, drawing an odd look from a passerby.

"I hope that makes flying to LA easier." Rick said. "If there was no 9/11, there may be no TSA or Homeland Security."

Their flight to LA was undisturbed by any security searches and after finding suites at an airport hotel, they headed for Santa Monic in a rental car.

The offices of Richard Castle Productions was located on the ground floor of a Spanish Colonial style two story office building. Kate, Becks and Simone stood in front when they knocked on the door. No telling how one Rick Castle would react to having two more of him show up on his doorstep.

To their surprise, another Kate Beckett opened the door. She stepped back at first, shock clear on her face. Then she smiled. "Lover, we have company. It's us. "She called over her shoulder. Then she stood back and waved the five in. "Come in. We wondered if someone like you would show up."

Inside, they found a Rick Castle and an Alexis as well. Luckily, there appeared to be no one else in the office.

After some not very necessary introductions, Rick asked the new Rick what had happened.

New Rick took his Kate's hand. "I lost Meredith and Alexis just after _Flowers for her Grave_ was published. Meredith picked Alexis up from her baby sitters when she had been drinking all afternoon with some other talentless actors. To make a long story short, they were both killed when Meredith ran the car off of the road. I was pretty shattered and I didn't take it very well. I blew my money on…" He blushed. "On things and people that I shouldn't have and finally hit rock bottom. Broke and friendless in LA. But a guy I knew asked me to polish a script for him. I found that working kept my mind occupied so that I didn't need drugs, or booze or hookers. When I was done, I got ten grand and my friend asked me to do some work on another script. After that, he asked me to collaborate with another guy, then he asked if I'd write a script and finally, I was a successful screen writer and then I decided to produce a direct to DVD film of my own. I wasn't happy exactly, but as long as I kept busy, I was okay." He smiled at Kate and Alexis. "Then these two showed up in my life."

The new Kate took over. "I lost Rick when he was killed by two of Bracken's goons when they tried to kill me with a fake suicide. But I got Bracken. I was crushed by the loss of Rick. Martha insisted I remain at the loft. She said both Alexis and she needed me."

"We did." Alexis said quietly. "I still do."

Kate nodded and smiled at Alexis. "I was pretty lost, too. I threw myself into my work, but it just wasn't the same without Rick. Then two guys showed up at the loft to kidnap Alexis. I was there, so they took me, too. We ended up in another New York. Our two kidnappers, both armed, walked past some cops who were investigating a robbery. The cops stopped them and asked about the guns, which started a gun battle. Our kidnappers were killed and Alexis and I ran."

Alexis took up the story. "We ran to the loft, but Dad didn't live there. He never had. We did some searching on line and found out that he lived in LA."

Kate smiled and shook her head. "We just had enough money to afford a bus to LA. I think Rick thought we were both crazy when we showed up here."

"Actually, I thought they were a pair of con women. "He shook his head. "But I just wanted it to be my Alexis so badly, I asked her to take a DNA test. I was shocked, let me tell you. She's my daughter, and I found I had a wonderful woman who loved me." He took his Kate's left hand and held it up for them to see. "We're engaged."

"And there's something else." Kate went to his desk and pulled out a thick manila folder. "The final draft of Heat Wave is ready for the publisher. It should be out in six months or so. I remembered the plot and the characters and Rick did the rest."

She walked over and sat on her lover's lap.

"You don't want to go back to your original Earth then?" Simone asked.

They all shook their heads. "Not chance."

Simone looked around. "I guess our work here is done."

LA Rick shot to his feet. "No, wait. You have to tell me all about your lives. I need to know." He pulled out his phone. "I'll order. Chinese okay?"

They stayed and talked until late at night and then in a flash of blue light, the five returned to the Moon.

"You didn't get her?" Metford asked sourly. "After all the trouble I went to?"

Rick smiled at him. "They lived happily ever after. What can I say?"

The next morning the five gathered at the red square one last time. Metford, as always, was there. "I have a present for you. Or at least for the two Ricks." He handed each of them a computer disc. "We've collected Nikki Heat stories and Derrick Storm stories from all of the Earths where Rick Castle is a writer. Mr. Rodgers, you can go back to writing for a living."

Rodgers took the disc. "I need to make a living, now that we're engaged." He pulled Becks close to him and kissed her.

Metford handed a similar disc to Rick. "You cover story is that you, Kate and Simone have been holed up on an island in the Caribbean while waiting for Bracken's plot to be disrupted by your father. While you were there, you did some writing. I hope you approve of the books that other yous have written. We had yet another Rick and Kate there so there'd be plenty of evidence that you were there. They were well compensated for their part in our little charade."

Metford stepped back and smiled at them. "You five have brought a bit of excitement into my life, but I honestly hope we never see each other again. Now, Rodgers and Becks, if you'll stand on the red square?"

After one final set of hugs, Rodgers and Becks were gone.

And then, Rick, Kate and Simone found themselves standing on the veranda of a house overlooking a sparkling blue sea.

"Do you two ladies want to stay here for a while?" Rick asked.

"I want to go home." Kate said.

"Home."


End file.
